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[From the Washington Union of February 6, 1855.] 

THE APPEAL OF THE CHOCTAWS.— COL. PITCHLYNN'S ADDRESS TO THE 

PRESIDENT. 

We were present on Saturday, when the Choclaw delegation, con- 
sisting of Messrs. Pitchlynn, Garland, Folsom, and Lewis, had an 
interview with President Pierce in regard to an adjustment of various 
unsettled questions between the United States and the Choctaw na- 
tion. Colonel Pitchlynn delivered to the President a most touching 
and eloquent address, which will be found in another column. The 
President expressed himself much gratified by the mterview, and re- 
ceived the memorial and documents of the delegation with an assurance 
that he would take pleasure in devoting his earliest leisure to their 
examination, and with every disposition to see that full justice should 
be awarded to the Choctaws. 

Colonel Pitchlynn'' ^ address, delivered to President Pierce, upon 2>rese7iting 
the appeal of the Choctaw delegation J or a settlement with the government. 

Sir: As the representatives of a on.e powerful, but now a weak and 
dependent people, we come to-day to the White House, to approach 
him who occupies the position which the great Washington himself first 
filled — a position which the red man looks up to as the most exalted in 
the world, but where he may always come and ask for justice at the 
hands of his political " Great Father." 

Our fathers before us took Washington by the hand and pledged 
their friendship to the United States, and declared that it should last 
as long as the sun brought forth day and cheered the hearts of men. 
That pledge has never once been broken by the Choctaws. In all 
their relations with the United, States they have ever sought peace, 
good-will, and friendship, and their treaty stipulations with the govern- 
ment have always been faithlully observed. In war they have perilled 
their lives and shed their blood in support and defence of the United 
States. In peace they have quietly and submissively yielded to their 
pohcy and wishes, though often at great sacrifices both of interest and 
feeling. No people ever gave stronger proofs of more durable friend- 
ship than that which has ever characterized the conduct of the 
Choctaws towards the United States. To your people we have been 
good men and true. We have done them no injury whatever. 

We come before you as suppliants, not for merciful concessions, or 
even favors, but for right and justice. Once our possessions embraced 
the valuable and fertile territory now included in the States of INlissis- 
sippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and over which our sway was undis- 
puted and supreme. There the bones of our ancestors tor many gen- 
erations repose, and there the Choctaws hoped to remain to watch over 
ihem, and to be perpetuated as a free and independent nation. But 
another and a stronger race came and swept us away into a distant 



and wilderness land, where we had long to struggle against the de- 
pressing effects of sad and painful reflections upon the hard and un- 
yielding policy which deprived us of our father-land and cherished 
homes. 

At the time of our first treaty with the United States, in 1786, when 
the Choctaws placed themselves under their protection, they owned 
and possessed about fifty millions of acres of land east of the Missis- 
sippi river, which was gradually and by piece-meal wrested from us, 
until, in 1830, we were required to cede the last foot of it to the gov- 
ernment. For all this magnificent domain, the once undisputed heri- 
tage of our fathers, which has put millions upon millions into the treas- 
ury of the United States, we received the most meagre and inconsid- 
erable consideration. The government required our lands, and we 
were compelled to submit and yield them up. ]t fixed its own price, 
and no alternative was left us but to agree to what it had determined 
we should accept. It has been enriched and otherwise benefited to 
an incalculable extent — we impoverished, prostrated, and exiled. Had 
our last and most important treaty — that of 1830 — been carried out in 
a spirit of hberality and justice, we should not be disposed to complain. 
Could we now obtain our just and equitable rights under it, we would 
be satisfied. There are important matters involved in its provisions 
j'et remaining unsettled. We wish to adjust them and all questions at 
issue between our people and the United States, so that there may no 
longer be any ground for dispute or controversy. The interest and 
welfare of our people require that this should be done. They know 
that they have just claims for large amounts against the government. 

We were sent here a year ago by our nation to endeavor to effect a 
final adjustment of all our unsettled business, and to do whatever might 
be necessary to simplify and more satisfactorily define our relations 
with the government. We communicated to the proper department 
the objects of our visit, and the wishes of our people ; and our respected 
agent, who then was here, was deputed to make an investigation, and 
report in relation thereto. On an invitation from him, we submitted, 
in writing, a full and detailed statement of the nature and extent of our 
claims, and the new arrangements desirable in regard to our political 
and municipal relations. He carefully examined into the several mat- 
ters submitted to him, and made an elaborate report thereon, of a 
highly fivorable character. It shows clearly that justice has not been 
done to us. It admits substantially all we claim and desire. Being a 
gentleman of ability and high character, his report should, we think 
have had some weight and influence in our favor ; but it appears to 
have had none. Three of the members of our delegation having re- 
turned home, they have been sent back by the nation with instructions 
to persist in our efforts to obtain justice. They have only recently ar- 
rived.; and as our appeals to the department have resulted only in dis- 
appointment and mortification, we have no alternative but to submit our 
case to our " Great Father," the President himself 

In invoking your interference and kind consideration of our case — 
which you will find fully set forth and explained in the memorial and 
accompanying papers, which we ask permission to present to you — we 
beg leave to state our belief that issue^ of the most momentous charac- 



ter to our people are involved in the appeal which we now make to you 
in their behalf. 

We have arrived at a critical point in our history, and much de- 
pends upon the course which the government shall now adopt towards 
us. We have struoajed hard to regenerate and elevate ourselves in 
the scale of civilization. Every dollar that we could spare, and every 
instrumentality in our power, has been made use of to diffuse the 
blessings of education among our people, and to improve their moral 
and physical condition. But our means and resources are too scanty 
to accomplish but a little of what we desire. Our progress is too slow, 
and we are almost disheartened; but let our affaiis with the govern- 
ment be properly and kindly adjusted — let only simple justice be done 
to us in the matter which we now submit for your consideration — and 
we believe a new and brighter day will soon dawn upon us; that the 
dark clouds which have so long obscured our future will pass away, 
and the sunlight of hope will gladden our hearts, exciting and encour- 
aging us to renewed efforts and still nobler aims. 

We regard with deep interest the plan which has been brought for- 
ward by a member of the Senate, whom we love and honor as a kind, 
disinterested, and zealous friend of our unfortunate race, for placing 
ourselves and the other tribes in our vicinity in a position of political 
equality with our white brethren. It is one that we are anxious to oc- 
cupy ; but our present resources are too restricted and limited, we fear, 
to justify us in assuming it. Let us but have the means of giving a 
new, stronger, and wider impulse to the cause of education among our 
people, and to aid us in defraying the greater expense of a more ele- 
vated ])osition and form of government, and we shall be proud to assume 
them. We believe a just and fair settlement with us by the govern- 
ment would give us means to a sufficient extent to justify us in assum- 
ing the new and more elevated position so kindly proposed to be held 
out to us. AnrI we realize the necessity of some such change. We 
cannot remain long as we are. We musi, rapidly become a regenerated 
and enlightened people, and place ourselves as nearly as possible in a 
situation of equality with our white brethren, or we shall be overcome 
and destroyed by the mighty wave of population and civilization which 
is rapidly spreading and rolling onward with accumulated and resist- 
less force towards the remotest confines of this great country, and 
which has already engulphed such myriads of our race. 

We believe, honored sir, that our destiny is, in a measure, in your 
hands. If you will consent to interfere and cause justice and liberahty 
to be extended towards us, we shall feel ourselves safe. We will en- 
deavor to profit wisely and discreetly by the results of such kinLJness, 
whatever they may be, to vindicate and ennoble the wisdom and 
magnanimity which dictated your friendly interference in our affairs, 
and so to preserve and manifest our deep sense of obligations towards 
you that your name may descend with reverence and blessings to the 
generations that are to come after us. 

We now beg leave to place in your hands our written memorial and 
documents. 



6 

To His Excellency General Franklin Pierce, President of the United 

States. 

Sir: The Choctaw nation of Indians, through the undersigned, 
their duly authorized delegates and representatives, respectfully pre- 
sent this, their humble appeal, to the Chief Magistrate of the United 
States. It is an appeal for justice, and, in your known magnanimity 
and generosity of character, we have a strong assurance that it will 
not be made in vain. 

We were sent here by our people more than a year ago, to endeavor 
to obtain a final settlement of our unadjusted affairs with the govern- 
ment, and to effect such changes in our existing treaty stipulations 
with it, as are required by our more advanced and enlightened condi- 
tion, and as would tend to simplify and render more satisfactory our 
relations with the government and with the people of the United 
States, with whom we are brought into contact, as well as with our 
brethren of other tribes. We were the more hopeful in regard to the 
latter object, because the government, through its authorized officer 
in charge of Indian affairs, had proclaimed its desire to revise all the 
old Indian treaties, because of their being, in many respects, crude, 
vague, and unsuitable in their provisions ; and to substitute others of 
a more simple, perspicuous, and satisfactory character. But, we 
more than regret to say that we have, thus far, accomplished noth- 
ing. An examination of our unsettled affairs has been refused, un- 
less ordered by Congress, with which branch of the government we 
should, rightfully, have nothing to do. And when, in compliance 
with a request to that effect, we simply and deferentially submitted 
an outline of the changes which appeared desirable in our conven- 
tional arrangements with the government, we were considered as 
making demands, some of which, appearing to be novel, were re- 
garded as improper and presumptuous, and the whole subject appa- 
rently dismissed as unworthy of further consideration. All that we 
have asked for is justice, and the establishment of a more liberal and 
enlightened policy towards us. We have entirely failed in our ef- 
forts, while there is not a northern tribe of Indians for whom the 
same things substantially are not being done. .With them, new 
treaties have been, or are being made, by which their relations with 
the government have been, or are to be, modified ; former controver- 
sies settled, old claims adjusted, and injuries repaired. While these 
things are being done for them, the rights and interests of the great 
semi-civilized southern tribes, who, by their progress and advance- 
ment in civilization, and in the pursuits of civilized life, have done 
most to confer credit upon the Indian policy of the United States, 
and upon whom the government must rely in case of difficulties in its 
Indian relations in the west, arc, as it seems to us, slighted and neg- 
lected. 

The representatives of the four great southern tribes — the Chero- 
kees, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws — have, in turn, appeared here, 
and appealed to the government, in the most urgent but respectful 
manner, for justice and the exercise of a liberal policy in matters 
affecting their welfare and vital interests, but they have appealed in 



vain. There has certainly been a manifest distinction and discrimin- 
ation between the northern and southern Indians in the course of the 
government authorities towards them — a distinction painful and humil- 
iating to the latter. Howto account for it we know not. It may have been 
entirely accidental. Of one thing, however, we feel assured — that it 
has not been authorized by you; and that it is a circumstance of 
which you cannot be aware. Overburdened, as you are, with matters 
connected with the vast and complicated interests of this great nation, 
you have but little time and opportunity to make yourself acquainted 
with the condition and welfare of your poor and helpless red children. 
Yet, next to the Great Spirit, it is to you, their "Great Father," 
that they look, in all their difficulties and trials. 

Of all the Indian tribes with which the government has ever had 
any dealings, there is not one more deserving of friendly, liberal, and 
magnanimous regard than the Choctaws. It is a remarkable fact, 
confirmed by history, that they are the only tribe which has never 
been in hostile collision with, and been conquered and subdued by, 
the United States. Never have they broken a promise, or violated 
their plighted faith with the government. Under all, and in many 
trying circumstances, they have faithfully observed all their treaty 
stipulations. Quietly submitting to the unyielding and uncompro- 
mising policy of the government, they, years since, became dispos- 
sessed of the last portion of their once vast domains, out of which 
have been formed several of the leading and most important States of 
the Southwest; and for which they received the most inadequate com- 
pensation. Had they been less loyal and submissive, and resisted 
the policy and wishes of the government, they would, in many re- 
spects, have fared better, as other tribes have done that have pursued 
the latter course. Appealing to the history of their past relations 
with the United States for abundant proof of their many and strong 
claims upon the liberality and magnanimity of the government, and 
invoking that justice which is due and has not been extended to them, 
they, with humble confidence, submit their case for the consideration 
of their "Great Father," the President of the United States. They 
propose, in this paper, however, only a partial statement thereof; re- 
ferring to the accompanying documents for the facts and reasons, in 
detail, upon which their claims and pretensions are founded. 

By the treaty of 1820 with the Choctaws, they retained a compar- 
atively small portion of their once extensive possessions east of the 
Mississippi, for the permanent home of the more advanced portion of 
the tribe who desired to remain in the country of the homes and final 
resting-places of their forefathers, and eventually to become citizens 
of the United States. The great Jackson assured the Choctaws that 
if they would consent to make that treaty, and to relinquish that 
portion of their lands which was ceded by it to the government, the 
remainder sliould be secured to them forever — that "the pegs should 
be driven down, and the lines marked, never to be obliterated." 
Under circumstances of a coercive character, the Choctaws, with 
great reluctance, consented ; the treaty was made, and the remainder 
of their lands secured to them in perpetuity, to be eventually divided 
and held by them in severalty. As a part of the consideration for 



8 

the extensive and valuable cession thus obtained by the United States, 
the Choctaws were given the country they now occupy, west of Ar- 
kansas, for a home for the large portion of the tribe that was less civil- 
ized, and preferred the hunter mode of life. The game having be- 
come scarce in the old country, many had already wandered off and 
settled in that west. This western country, which, as stated, was 
given in part exchange for the cession east, was transferred and se- 
cured to the Choctaw nation also in perpetuity, as "a permanent 
home for the Choctaws and their posterity forever." The succeeding 
treaty of 1825, by which, to accommodate the government, a strip of 
the eastern portion of it was retroceded by the Choctaws, recognised 
it as their permanent possession. The Choctaws thus owned and 
held that portion remaining to them of their old country east, and 
that sold to them west by the treaty of 1820, by a permanent and se- 
cure title, which, as to that west of the Mississippi^ has never been 
weakened or impaired by any subsequent transaction between them 
and the government. The treaty of 1830, by which they ceded their 
remaining country east, only re-granted and confirmed it to them in 
a more formal and solemn manner, in order to comply with the pro- 
visions of the act of Congress, then recently passed, requiring the 
emigrated tribes to be specifically secured in their western homes by 
patent in fee simple. This explanation of the position and rights of 
the Choctaws, at the date of the treaty of 1830, is, to some extent, 
necessary to a proper understanding of their just rights and claims 
under that treaty. 

Referring to the accompanying copy (marked A) of our communi- 
cation of the 1st of May last, to our agent, who had been specially 
commissioned to examine into the business with which the delegation 
was charged, for a full statement of the facts and circumstances con- 
nected with the making of the treaty of 1830, and the grounds of our 
claims and demands under it, we will only say that, if that treaty can 
be fairly construed to give to our people no further rights and claims 
than there seems, thus far, to be a disposition in some quarters to 
concede to them, it was a cheat and a fraud, as discreditable to the 
government, as it is unjust and humiliating to the Choctaws. 

Like the treaty of 1820, that of 1830 was, in no slight degree, the 
result of coercion — of threats and representations of tlie most startling 
and alarming character. The Choctaws had long before determined 
never to sell another foot of their lands ; the permanent and secure 
possession of which, together with the care and protection of tlie gov- 
ment, had been solemnly pledged and guarantied to them. The uni- 
versal sense and determination of the nation was against any further 
cession, and they refused to treat on the subject on any terms. Through 
the means referred to, however, and the most liberal promises, the 
treaty of 1830 was obtained from them ; and they thereby lost the 
last acre of their ancient possessions. The great object of the treaty, 
on the part of the government, was to relieve itself of its obligations 
and promises to the Choctaws, of protection in their possessions, laws 
and customs ; which could not be carried out, without a conflict with 
State policy and laws. (See preamble to the treaty.) Hence, and be- 
cause the Choctaws had a perpetuity or fee-simple title to their lands, 



the commissioners promised them the whole and entire benefit to re- 
sult from their cession. They were explicitly told by the commis- 
sioners that the government did not want their lands, but only the 
mere possession of them. It had enough of its own already ; ^nd the 
commissioners did not come as traders, to dispute about prices. They 
came as friends to do them full justice, and would take no advantage 
of them whatever, and all the benefits of the transaction would be 
theirs ; none would result to the United fStates, which were to derive 
no advantage or benefit whatever from the value or sale of the lands. 
These and like promises were made and reiterated, in every manner 
and form calculated to allure the Choctaws, and gain their assent to 
the propositions made by the commissioners ; but all without effect, 
until they became panic-stricken by the threats and alarming repre- 
sentations made by the commissioners, of the withdrawal of the pro- 
tection of the government, and the certain ruin and destruction of the 
Choctaws as a nation and people. We refer to the printed journal of 
the commissioners for the truth of what we here state ; though it does 
not contain the final speech of the chief commissioner — who then held 
the high position of Secretary of War — which had the principal efi'ect 
in frightening the Choctaws into a compliance with the wishes of the 
government. Immediately after that speech the treaty was signed, 
amidst great excitement and confusion, and without being read inter- 
preted. It was thus consummated in a moment of desperation on the 
part of the Choctaws, which was so great and universal, that it was dan- 
gerous for the commissioners to remain on the ground or in the coun- 
try, and they hurried off immediately ; not even taking time to make 
and leave behind a copy of the treaty for the information of the Choc- 
taws, which was promised to them. They had every assurance, how- 
ever, that it contained all the commissioners had promised ; and 
especially that it secured to them the full and entire actual value of 
their lands ; no part of which, as they were told, was to go to the 
United States. 

The Choctaws, and we, as their delegates and representatives, con- 
tend that the treaty, as it stands, though less specific than the prom- 
ises of the commissioners — upon which our people relied in hsfetily 
signing the treaty without its being read to them — does, by a fair and 
just interpretation, give to them the value of the lands ceded by it, 
viz : the actual proceeds of the sales thereof, after deducting the ne- 
cessary and proper expenses of tlieir survey and sale. We have suc- 
cessfully and satisfactorily established this proposition in the argu- 
ment addressed to our agent on the subject, to which we have already 
referred. But, admit doubtfulness in the treaty on this point, the 
very article thereof (IStli) which was intended to, and, according to 
our judgment, does secure to us the proceeds of the lands, provides 
"that, in the construction of this treaty, wherever well-founded doubt 
shall arise, it shall be construed most favorably towards the Choctaws." 
If there be any doubt, therefore, the Choctaws are entitled to the 
benefit of it ; but, taken in connexion with the pledges and promises 
of the commissioners, the treaty cannot be considered doubtful on 
this (question. Further, in case of doubt or obscurity, we have the 
right, by a well-established principle of interpretation, to go back. 



10 

and refer to the facts preceding and connected witli the formation of 
the treaty, and especially to the promises of the commissioners, as to 
what the treaty should contain, to show its meaning and intent. Be- 
tween equals, this is a right which can be claimed only on the most 
clear and undoubted grounds ; but, between a great, powerful, and 
enliglitened government such as the United States, and a weak, help- 
less, and comparatively ignorant people like the Choctaws, it is one 
which should be conceded on the slightest grounds of doubt. "We 
humbly submit that it would ill-become the dignity, honor, and fair 
fame of this ' ' great republic' ' to stand upon technicalities in such a 
case. 

In further proof of the facts and circumstances connected with the 
making of the treaty of 1830, and of our just and equitable rights 
under it, we refer to the accompanying letters (marked B and C) of 
General J. H. Eaton, who was the principal commissioner on the 
part of the United States in its negotiation, and General R. H. Grant, 
of Mississippi, a gentleman of high character and undoubted integrity, 
who was present at all the councils, and knew everything that trans- 
pired therein. 

We would respectfully call your attention to the report of our agent 
(a copy of which is herewith, marked D) in regard to our pecuniary 
rights under the treaty of 1830. Though taking a different view of 
the subject from that of our people and ourselves, it comes to the same 
result, viz: that the moneys realized from the sale of our lands, after 
discharging the proper liens thereon, fairly and justly belong to the 
Choctaws. That report was evidently prepared with great care; and 
we have no doubt the honorable Secretary of War will give ample 
testimony of the ability and integrity of the gentleman who made it. 
We have in it the judgment of an intelligent and reliable officer of 
the government, specially commissioned to examine into the subject, 
that our claim is a just one. We cannot but believe, sir, that, on in- 
vestigating it, you also will come to that conclusion. 

In pressing our right to the actual proceeds of our lands, we are 
not making a demand of a novel character — not asking what has not 
been allowed to other tribes. The same right was conceded to our 
brethren the Chickasaws, whose country adjoined that of the Choc- 
taws, east of the Mississippi, and whose title thereto Avas only the oc- 
cupant of '^ Indian title." The treaty with them was made only a 
few years after that with us, and, as Ave understand it, upon the same 
basis, though they held their country by a title of far less dignity 
than ours. It was also granted to the Wyandotts and other Indians 
in Ohio about the same time ; and all the treaties recently made with 
the Indians in Nebraska and Kansas — with but one or two exceptions, 
in Avhich large prices on lien were agreed to be paid for the lands — 
are based upon the same principle. 

We would call your attention to the individual claims of many of 
our people under the treaty of 1830, Avhose rights have been totally 
disregarded or neglected by the government. They are briefly set 
forth and referred to in our argument before our agent, and in his re- 
port. We have shown why tlieir further prosecution against the gov- 
ernment is entirely hopeless ; in consequence of which the Choctaw 



aX 



nation has proposed to assume the settlement and payment of them 
itself, if the United States will do justice and pay over the amount 
due to it. For both these purposes a new treaty is necessary ; and 
we humbly trust, sir, that you will see the propriety of directing one 
to be made with us, providing for a pecuniary settlement with the 
Choctaws, on the basis we claim, as a matter of right and justice. 
There are other important reasons why a new treaty should be made 
with us, as you will find on a perusal of our papers. We particu- 
larly refer you to the accompanying copy (marked E) of our commu- 
nication to the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 11th of 
July last, from which you will perceive that there are grave and im- 
portant issues pending between the Choctaws and the United States — 
issues which must be met and settled soon ; and which we hope your 
administration will have the credit of doing, instead of our being 
thrown off upon a succeeding one, or upon Congress, as proposed by 
the Hon. Secretary of the Interior. Sir, we claim that the executive 
department of the government is not justified in referring us to Con- 
gress for a redress of grievances arising out of the non-fulfilment of 
treaty stipulations. It cannot do so without a manifest disregard of 
its just obligations. With it rests the duty of carrying out the laws 
promptly, justly, and, in the case of a feeble Indian tribe, magnani- 
mously ; and a treaty is the highest kind of law. There is no more 
propriety in referring us to Congress to prosecute rights and claims 
arising under treaty stipulations, than there would be in so referring 
a foreign nation having demands arising in the same way. And what 
would be thought of the executive department of this government, 
not only by other governments, but by its own people, if it so sought 
to transfer its duty and responsibility to Congress ? 

The Hon. Secretary of the Interior, in his letter to the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs of the 20th June last, (copy herewith marked 
F,) summarily disposing of our case, and throwing us upon Congress, 
says : "If the annuities have not been paid, according to treaty stip- 
ulations, let Congress, or one of the houses, make a call upon the In- 
dian Ofiice and Second Auditor for the necessary statements and re- 
ports." 

In order to demonstrate the injustice of such a decision, and the 
inutility of such a reference of us to Congress, it is only necessary for us 
to state, that under the last administration, without waiting for a call 
from '' Congress, or one of the houses/' an investigation was made to 
ascertain whether our annuities had "been paid according to treaty 
stipulations." It was found they had not; that there was a large 
amount due to the Choctaws, under specific treaty provisions, which 
had never been paid. This fact was reported to Congress, and that 
body requested to make the necessary appropriation. But "one of 
the houses," wanting further information on the subject, made a call 
for it on the Hon. Secretary of the Interior. This call was math' nearly 
two years ago, and the inlormation has not yet been furnislied, nor 
the appropriation made. Who is chargeable with this delay, or 
whether any one is to blame tor it, we do not pretend to judge; but 
one thing is certain — that had we ever entertained anv expectation or 
hope of effecting anything towards the settlement of our afiairs 



12 

tliroiigh a ''call of Congress or one of the houses," this circumstance 
would have completely annihilated it. 

Sir, we regret that this paper is so long; that we could not, in jus- 
tice to our people, make it shorter. Our business is complicated and 
important, involving many weighty facts, circumstances, and issues, 
not a few of which we have omitted to state. There is one point, 
however, which a deep sense of solemn responsibility constrains us to 
state before closing ; and that is, that the future of the Choctaws 
materially depends upon what is now done, or omitted to be done, for 
them. They have arrived at a critical point in their history. They 
have made great advances in civilization. This has been done mainly 
by education. To promote this great cause, they have exerted every 
energy, and used all the means and resources they could command, for 
the purpose. These are, however, in a measure, failing ; and public 
spirit on the subject, which has been sedulously cultivated and pro- 
moted in every possible way, is in danger of languishing, and the 
Choctaws are becoming discouraged, and retrograding. In their anx- 
iety upon the subject, they are beginning to see and realize how slow 
is their progress, and how little is accomplished, compared with Avhat 
might be effected if their means were more ample. They know that 
the government owes them sufhcient to enable them to meet the exi- 
gencies of their situation, and they feel keenly its injustice towards 
them, in the withholding of their just dues. In short, they have ar- 
rived at that jioint where continued injustice may ruin, or justice 
and magnanimity preserve, advance, and perpetuate them, as an edu- 
cated, moral, industrious, and prosperous people. We believe that 
the issue is now in your hands. We leave it with you, hoping that 
you will perceive its importance, and the possible consequences in- 
volved in it. We believe, too, that it presents one of those felicitous 
occasions seldom occuring in the life of any one men, when, by the 
manifestation of only a commendable degree of personal interest, and 
a laudable exercise of authority conferred for noble purposes, he can 
materially contribute to promote the improvement, welfare, and hap- 
piness of a whole people, and embalm his name and memory in their 
hearts, and in those of generations to succeed them. 

Earnestly and hopefully commending the cause of the Choctaws to 
your kind and generous consideration, we have the honor to subscribe 
ourselves your excellency's friends and servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN, 
ISRAEL FOLSOM, 
SAMUEL GARLAND, 
DICKSON W. LEWIS. 
Washington City, February 3, 1855. 



Washington C^y, April 5, 1854. 

Sir : Aftei some deliberation about the best course for us to pursue 
in relation to the leading object of our visit to this city, as delegates 
of the Choctaw nation, we have concluded to explain and submit it 
in writing, and therefore respectfully address you this communi- 
cation. 



13 

The Choctawsliave reached an important stage in their history and 
progress, having emerged from a state of pupilage, and become suffi- 
ciently capable of taking care of themselves to justify material changes 
in their political and pecuniary relations with the United States. 
And they are anxious to effect such changes in those respects as may 
be agreeable to the government, and have a tendency to promote their 
advancement and prosperity. 

Hoping that the recent movement in Congress with reference to 
some modifications in our political relations will lead to such as are 
necessary and desirable, we will not trouble you with any remarks 
uj)on that branch of the subject, but confine ourselves to that of our 
pecuniary affairs and interests as connected with the government. 
These, including all questions of rights and claims of every descrip- 
tion against the government, it is our earnest wish to have finally ad- 
justed and closed, so as to put an end to all further contentions with 
the United States in relation thereto, and to release us from that con- 
dition of uncertainty and dependence in which we have so long been 
placed, and which has so fatal an influence in repressing enterprise 
and industry among our people. 

We might call your attention to many subjects and causes of dis- 
satisfaction, but we shall notice only a few arising under the treaty 
of "Dancing Rabbit Creek." Nearly twenty-four years have elapsed 
since that treaty was made, during the whole of which time there 
have been contests and disputes of one kind or another in regard to 
the execution of its different stipulations, which, to a greater or less 
extent, have kept our people in a state of perplexity, uncertainty, 
and dependence, extremely embarrassing and prejudicial to their in- 
terests and welfare. It is the fixed sentiment of our people that 
scarcely one of its executive stipulations has been carried out by the 
government in a manner to do justice, and according to its extent. 

Under the 14th article of the treaty every head of a family in the 
nation could have remained east and acquired sufficient quantities of 
land out of the ceded territory to have made them all independent. 
The great body of the people^ however, yielded to the policy and so- 
licitations of the government, and consented to remove west. 

We were to have had ample time to prepare therefor, but every 
means and appliance was used to hurry us off, and the emigration 
was disastrous in the extreme in the loss of both life and property. 

No means were provided to enable us to take with us such of our 
personal effects as were indispensable to our comfort and necessities, 
in re-establishing ourselves in a new and wilderness country, and no 
opportunity given us to dispose of them. We were pushed ofi", and 
told by the agents of the government to leave them — that they would 
be paid for; but not a cent of indemnity therefor did we ever obtain. 
The treaty sti})ulated that our cattle should be valued and paid for, 
or others furnished, west; but in a very large number of cases no 
such valuation was made, and of course no compensation in money, or 
other cattle obtained. 

There are hundreds of just claims of this kind in tlie nation, which 
we have found it to be hopeless to urge on the government. 

Some of the more inde])endent of our people refused to be hurried 
off by the government agents, and to be removed under the uncom- 



14 

fortable arrangements provided. They preferred to, and did remain 
and submit themselves ; thereby acquiring a right to com^iensation 
therefor, but which many have never received. 

Consider the history of the execution of the 14th article of the 
treaty, and the wrong and injustice thereby inflicted upon a large 
portion of that class who elected to take advantage of its provisions. 
These reservations Avere sold from them by the government as public 
land, or they were forcibly disposed of, or by threats and intimida- 
tions driven from them, by heartless and lawless white men. When 
these facts became known to the government, justice required that it 
should repossess them of their property, but no effort for that purpose 
was made. They were told that their reservations were gone, and 
could not be restored. 

For years they were petitioners in vain for some just remuneration 
for their lost rights ; and when, at last, a law was passed to examine 
their claims, it prescribed a course of adjudication of so rigid and 
technical a character as necessarily to, exclude many just claims. 
Those that did not come within the exact measure of this strict and 
restrictive law were rejected, though in justice and equity they were, 
under the circumstances, full as meritorious as those that were al- 
lowed. 

From lapse of time, and death and dispersion of witnesses, cases 
that did not come within the specific requirements of the law, could 
not be established. 

The investigation was such as could be successfully met only by in- 
telligent persons familiar with judicial proceedings, and who had 
known from the first the importance of preserving, and preparing 
for the establishment of, every fact connected with the loss of their 
rights. Not one of the claimants could meet it without the assistance 
of able and astute attorneys, Avhom they were all compelled to employ, 
and agree to pay one-lialf of what was recovered for them. 

Many of the reservees, despairing of obtaining any remuneration 
from the government for their lost rights, and being destitute of means 
and resources^ were compelled to take a refuge with their brethren in 
the west, before the law passed for the adjudication of the claims. 

All such, the law cut off entirely, because they had removed ; while 
in the case of those who remained, and whose rights were established, 
the government withheld the inadequate compensation it determined 
to allow them, unless they did remove ; though they were citizens of 
Mississippi, and by the treaty were entitled to remain and enjoy all 
their rights there. It is true, that a portion of one-half of the scrip 
that was granted them, in lieu of their lost reservations, was paid, 
east of the Mississippi river, but it was paid in such a manner that it 
all went into the hands of attorneys and speculators, and was of no 
benefit whatever to its rightful owners. Most of that which was paid 
to them was issued in the Choctaw country west, where they could 
not locate it, and it was comparatively valueless. They had to dis- 
pose of it for what they could get from speculators, combined together 
to obtain it at the lowest rates. The price realized was seldom greater 
than about thirty-one and a quarter cents per acre — only one-fourth 
of the lowest price they could have obtained for the lands they could 
have located with the scrip, had it been given to them, east. Their 



15 

own lands, to wliicli they were entitled under the treaty, hut of which 
they were dispossessed, they could have been sold, in many cases, for 
from five to ten dollars an acre. 

The result is, that those who have obtained anything, have received 
the merest pittance, a compensation wholly inadequate ; while there 
are hundreds, whose claims are quite as just and meritorious as those 
that have been allowed, that have never received anything. 

The 19th article of the treaty likewise granted reservations of 
limited extent to particular classes of our people, without the condi- 
tion, prescribed by the 14th article, of their remaining thereon, and 
which they were at liberty to sell with the assent of the President. 
But if these preferred, or omitted to take the reservations, they were 
to be comjjensated therefor in money, at the rate of fifty cents per 
acre. Many claims of this class remain unadjusted and unpaid, not- 
withstanding the repeated solicitations, prayers, and efforts of our 
people to obtain a settlement of them. 

But we will not proceed further with this painful recital of individ- 
ual rights sacrificed and neglected. The claims that have grown out 
of them are numerous and just, and ought to be settled. They have 
continued to be asserted and urged, from time to tim.ei, for more than 
twenty years, but without effect. It is hopeless longer to press them 
upon the government, as they cannot now be proved up with that ac- 
curacy and certainty which it requires in all cases to avoid fraud and 
imposition. 

They can be settled in a manner to do justice only by ourselves. 
We know the parties and all the facts connected with their demands, 
and how far the latter are well founded, and worthy of compensation, 
or otherwise. So long as they remain unadjusted, our people will be 
kept in a state of controversy and excitement. The authorities of the 
nation and our agent will continue to be importuned, as they are 
now, so that they will have no peace in regard to them; while the 
claimants, in the hope of obtaining justice, will continue to rely on 
the expectation thereof, to the neglect of all other duties and interests, 
setting an example of idleness pernicious and hurtful to others, and 
too likely to be followed by many. 

Thereare, also, important national claims and pecuniary rights re- 
quiring to be adjusted and settled. We will, however, mention now 
only one case of this kind in which injustice has been done to us, de- 
ferring, till a more appropriate occasion, a full and complete exposi- 
tion on this subject, should it become necessary. We refer to the 
simple matter of "arrearages" payable tons as annuities, about which 
there should have been no mistake or difiiculty. The amounts are 
fixed, and should have been paid over regularly and without abate- 
ment; but this has not been done. 

An investigation in the office where the vouchers and evidence of 
all the payments and expenditures to and for us are kept, made at the 
instance of your office nearly two years ago, shows, beyond dispute, 
that of the amounts due and payable on this account, from 1831 to 
1850, the considerable sum of over ninety thousand dollars has been 
withheld and never paid. 

We wish to make an arrangement for a final adjustment of all such 



16 

matters, both individual and national. We propose to release the 
government from all further obligation and liability in regard to the 
former, which we will assume and settle, with the assistance of our 
agent, out of our own funds, if we can obtain and have the requisite 
control over what is justly and fairly due to us. What would be the 
aggregate of the amount to which we are entitled, we do not know. 
A proper investigation would be necessary to ascertain it. Such por- 
tion of it as might not be required for the satisfaction of the private 
rights and claims, which we propose to assume, we wish to consoli- 
date or convert into one single national fund, applicable to great 
national objects and purposes only: such as education, necessary gov- 
ernmental expenses, on an economical scale, and legitimate and pro- 
per objects of internal improvements, as roads, bridges, mills, me- 
chanical establishments, and agriculture. We desire to put an end, 
now and forever, to everything like distributive annuities, which we 
consider a curse instead of a benefit. 

To secure the desirable and important ends we have thus briefly and 
imperfectly submitted, a new treaty will be necessary, which we are 
fully empowered to enter into, should it be the pleasure of the gov- 
ernment to entertain and consent to the proposition. We would also 
be glad to enter into a new treaty, for the excellent reasons recom- 
mended in your annual report, to reduce into one simple code, easily 
understood and administered, all the crude, inharmonious, and in 
some cases inconsistent stipulations of our various existing treaties. 
From motives of delicacy, we have abstained from consulting our es- 
teemed agent upon the subject of this communication, leaving him 
free to be first consulted by the department thereon, so far as it may 
think proper so to do. 

With great respect, we have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient 
servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN, 
ISRAEL FOLSOM, 
SAMUEL GARLAND, 
DICKSON W. LEWIS, 

Choctaio Delegates. 
Hon. G. W. Manypenny, 

Commissionei^ of Indian Affairs, 



Department of the Interior, 

Office Indian Affairs, April 13, 1854. 

Sir : I have the honor to submit for your consideration a commitni- 
cation from the Choctaw delegation, now in this city, proposing an 
arrangement for the purpose of settling all outstanding matters be- 
tween them and the government, and of substituting one simple con- 
vention in lieu of the complex and somewhat heterogeneous treaty 
provisions now in force between their tribe and the United States, in 
conformity with the general recommendation in my annual report in 
favor of such an arrangement as the latter with all the tribes similarly 
situated. 



17 

The proposition is one deserving of the favorable considera- 
tion of the department. There are doubtless outstanding matters 
with these Indians that should be finally adjusted and closed; and a 
new convention of a proper character, in lieu of those now existing, 
would much simplify our relations with the Choctaws, and save much 
trouble and embarrassment in the management of their affairs. 

The subject will, however, require preliminary investigation and 
conference with the delegation, which my other pressing engage- 
ments will not admit of my attending to in person. 

I therefore recommend that this duty be assigned to agent Cooper, 
who is now here, so that the department may be fully informed of the 
magnitude and nature of the claims of the Choctaws, and be better pre- 
pared to enter into such an arrangement with the delegation as may 
be suitable and proper for the accomplishment of the objects in view. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEO. W. MANYPENNY, 

Commissioner. 
Hon. R. McClelland, 

Secretary of the Interior. 



Department of the Interior, 

Washington, Ajjril 15, 1854. 

Sir : I have considered the subject of your letter of the 13th inst., 
submitting a proposition of the Choctaw delegation, now in this city, 
to settle all outstanding matters between them and the government, 
and of substituting a simple convention in lieu of the treaty provis- 
ions now in force, and approve your recommendation of the course 
which should be pursued for the accomplishment of the objects in 
view, and request that you will take the necessary action to carry into 
effect the arrangements proposed. 

The paper which accompanied your letter is herewith returned. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

E. McClelland, 

Secretary.. 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 



Department of the Interior, 
Office Indian Affairs, April 20, 1854. 

Sir: Enclosed is a copy of a communication from the Choctaw del- 
egation, proposing a new arrangement for the purpose of settling all 
outstanding matters, and simplifying the relations between their tribe 
and the United States. 

I enclose also a copy of my letter to the Secretary of the Interior, 
submitting said communication to him. He having ai)proved the 
recommendation therein contained, the duty is accordingly assigned 
to you to confer with the delegation, and make the requisite inquiry 
and investigation to ascertain the character and extent of the claims 
2 



18 

of the Choctaws, and the arrangement that will be necessary to ac- 
complish the object in view. You will proceed to the performance of 
this duty without delay, and report the result of your investigation 
and views upon the subject. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEO. W. MANYPENNY, 

Commissioner. 
Douglas H. Cooper, Esq., 

U. S. Agent for Chodatvs, Present, 



Washington City, D. C, 

April 20, 1854. 

Gentlemen: I am to-day in receipt of a communication from the 
Hon. George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, enclos- 
ing one irom the Choctaw delegation to himself, proposing an arrange- 
ment for the purpose of settling all outstanding matters, and simplitying 
the relations between their tribe and the United States. 

The honorable Commissioner has directed me " to confer with the 
delegation, and make the requisite inquiry and investigation to ascer- 
tam the character and extent of the claims of the Choctaws, and the 
arrangement that will be necessary to accomplish the object in view." 
I am now prepared to receive any communication you may see 
proper to make, touching the claims and the proposed arrangement 
referred to in your communication of April 5, 1854, to the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs. 

Very respectfully, 

DOULAS H. COOPER, 

U. S. Agent for Choctaws. 
Messrs. P. P. Pitchlynn, 
Israel Folsom, 
Samuel Garland, 
Dickson W. Lewis, 

Choctaw Delegation. 



Washngton City, D. C, 

April 20, 1854. ' 

Sir: We have received your letter of this date, informing us that 
our communication of the 5th instant, to the honorable Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs, has been referred to you, with directions "to confer 
with the delegation," (ourselves,) *'and make the requisite inquiry and 
investigation to ascertain the character and extent of the claims of the 
Choctaws, and the arrangement that will be necessary to accomplish 
the object in view," viz: the settling up of all outstanding matters, and 
simplifying the relations between the United States and the Choctaws. 

In reply to that part of your letter in which you say that you are 
now prepared to receive any communication we may see proper to 
make, touching the claims and proposed arrangement referred to in our 



19 

letter to the Hon. Commissioner, we beg leave to state, that not being 
able to anticipate what action would be had upon that letter, we are 
not prepared to submit immediately a turther communication on those 
subjects; but we hope to be able to do so in the course of a few days. 
We will hold ourselves in readiness for any conferences with which 
you may be disposed to honor us. 

With great respect, your obedient servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN, 
ISRAEL FOLSOM, 
SAMUEL GARLAND, 
DICKSON W. LEWIS, 

Choctaw Delegation. 
Gen. D. H. Cooper, 

U. S. Agent fur the Choctaics, now in Washington, D. C. 



A. 

Washington City, il/ay 1, 1854. 
Sir : In regard to that portion of your letter of the 20th ultimo, 
which we acknowledged on the same day, inviting a communication 
from us in relation to the character and extent of the claims of the 
Choctaws against the United States, we beg leave to remark that we 
have not assumed the position of contending for the payment of any 
particular claims by the United States. That there are just claims to 
a large amount, arising under the Dancing Rabbit Creek treaty, 
which have never been settled, you cannot but be aware, from what 
you have already learned during even your brief official connexion 
with our people. To the more important classes of these claims, we 
briefly adverted in our letter to the honorable Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs of the 5th ultimo, which has been referred to you. We also 
stated some of the reasons why, at this late day, we never could hope 
to effect a just settlement of them by the government. The unavail- 
ing efforts of twenty years to accomplish that object, leaves no ground 
for any other conclusion. The most of the claims depend upon facts 
which our people are unable to establish in such manner as to bring 
them within any rule of adjudication and settlement which the gov- 
ernment has been, or will be, willing to adopt. We have been dealt 
with as though we were intelligent white men ; having the capacity, 
and knowing the importance of collecting and preserving evidence in 
relation to the claims. From lapse of time, these facts cannot now 
be substantiated to the satisfaction of the government. They have, 
m a measure, become only traditionary. Yet the claims are not the 
less just, and ought to be settled. Until this is done in some way, 
neither the authorities of the nation, nor our agent, will be free from 
embarrassing and perplexing importunity upon the subject. An In- 
dian never gives up a claim which he knows to be just, but will con- 
tinue to urge and press it at every opportunity. And, unfortunately, 
he will, as a general rule, do very little else tending to his advantage. 
He will live on in hope of obtaining his demand, and the result is a 



20 

life of idleness and misery. From the number of those among our 
people having unadjusted claims, we have seen but too many such 
examples. 

Though these individual claims can never be proved up so that 
justice can be done directly by the government, they are known, or 
can be ascertained among ourselves, and, with your assistance, 
they can be justly and satisfactorily disposed of so as to put an end to 
them forever. This we are willing to do out of our own funds, if we 
can effect such a national settlement and arrangement with the gov- 
ernment as Ave and our people desire. As to the extent of these 
claims, we are not in a situation at present to furnish any accurate 
information. We have not the means of making any reliable estimate 
of their amount. They are known to be numerous, and it will require 
a very large sum to satisfy them. Should the Department insist on 
an estimate of them, we must ask your kind assistance in the prej)a- 
ration of one. 

We now proceed to explain the arrangement and settlement we 
desire to make : 

Under the 18th article of the treaty of Dancing Kabbit creek, we 
are entitled to the fund arising from the sale of our lands ceded un- 
der that instrument; subject, of course, to a deduction of the expenses 
of surveying and selling them, and of the amount of the several pe- 
cuniary obligations and payments provided for in the treaty, and 
which constituted "the debt" to "be provided for and arranged," 
mentioned in the 18th article. The proceeds of the lands were not to 
be paid over to us as the latter were sold, but were to be retained and 
preserved by the government, and remain a pledged fund until the 
payment of the obligations, or debts referred to, had been completed. 
The reason of this arrangement was, that it was not known when or 
for what prices the lands would sell. No reasonable calculation could 
be made as to when their sale would afford any particular amount of 
income ; and, in the mean time, it was necessary to make provision 
for the emigration and subsistence of such as would be disposed to 
remove, compensation for property Avhich they could not take with 
them, annual means of support, after removal, for a series of years, 
purposes of education, &c., &c. Provision was made in the treaty 
accordingly : the principal payments being an annuity of $20,000 ; 
expense of educating a specified number of youths ; and the employ- 
ment of certain teachers. These were to run for twenty years, which 
would give ample time, as was supposed, for the sale of the lands, or 
of all that were of any material value. 

The fund arising from the sale of the lands being pledged to re- 
main with the government until the payment of the debts, we were of 
course precluded from calling for it until they had been paid. Some 
of them, of an individual character, are not yet paid, as already 
stated ; but, for the reasons given, there seems no reasonable .ground 
for hope that they ever will be, unless in the manner suggested. 
The principal debts have nominally been paid, though, in res})ect to 
annuity, the payments have fallen short of the aggregate of the 
amount specified in the treaty, some ninety thousand dollars, as 
stated in our letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The time 



ii 

for tlieir payment lias, however, expired, and we therefore feel justi- 
fied in now calling upon the government for a settlement under the 
treaty. We presume there can exist no just cause of difficulty in 
making a settlement, so far as the lands have been sold. But a por- 
tion of them yet remain undisposed of; and in order to make a final 
settlement with the United States, as we are anxious to do, we wish 
to relinquish all claims to, or on account of them, for such a rate or 
amount of consideration as may be fair and just, and the government 
is willing to allow. In order to effect this purpose, and to relieve 
the United States from all further liability on account of the unad- 
justed individual claims under the treaty, and to provide for their 
settlement and payment by ourselves, a new treaty will be necessary, 
by which, also, we desire to accomplish the other object stated in our 
communication to the Hon. Commissioner, viz : the simplification of 
our relations with the United States, by the substitution of one j^lain, 
simple convention for all the various stipulations of the several treaties 
between us now in force. 

We have thus briefly stated what we desire, and our understanding 
of our pecuniary rights under the treaty of 1830, which is in strict 
conformity with justice, and with what the commissioners, who ne- 
gotiated the treaty, promised. The 18th article of the treaty being, 
however, somewhat vague and inexplicit, may be liable to have a con- 
struction put upon it that would do us great wrong and injustice, by 
those unacquainted with the circumstances of our position at the time 
of the treaty, and important facts in relation to the latter, having a 
material bearing in regard to its correct interpretation on the point 
under consideration. We deem it proper, therefore, to submit, in as 
short a compass as we can state them, the grounds upon which our 
view of the question is founded. 

Prior to the treaty of Dook's Stand, in 1820, the Choctaws had 
made large cessions of territory to the United States, without receiv- 
ing any just or adequate equivalent. For one of a considerable extent 
of territory, made by the treaty of 1802, only the pitiful sum of one 
dollar, and a small quantity of dry goods and a few other articles, 
were agreed to be given by the United States. Having derived no 
substantial advantage from these cessions, and parted with all the 
lands which they believed they could spare, the Choctaws determined 
to keep what remained to them for their own use, and to cede no more. 
This determination did not, however, avail them. The government 
was equally det(!rmined to have more, and, by threats and intimida- 
tion, drove tiem into the making of the further cession of 1820. To 
provide efiectually for the accompli f-hment of the object, they sent to 
us, as one of the commissioners on that occasion, that great man and 
master-spirit, General Andrew Jackson, imder whom the Choctaws 
had fought on tlie side of the United States in 1813 and 1814, and 
whom they loved and respected. Notwithstanding their great regard 
for him, however, they were wholly unwilling to agree to treat for a 
further cession of their lands, but were driven to do so in the manner 
stated. 

The commissioners informed the Secretary of War that they found 
the Indians very much opposed to ceding or exchanging any land ; 



22 

that every cliief was threatened with death if he consented to sell or 
exchange an acre; but that presents, judiciously applied to a few chiefs 
and influential men, to the amount of some $4,700, with a seasonable 
admixture of threats and cajolery, effected the desired exchange. 

The Indians were told that the President had purchased lands for 
them west of the Mississippi, (to which some of the more restless of 
the Choctaws had gone;) that those who would remove there would 
find a good country, and those who chose to remain could do so. 
They were threatened that, if they would not treat, a treaty would be 
made with those who had gone west of the Mississippi, in which case 
the United States might take their lands east for those west, acre for 
acre, and a cession be thus obtained, that would cut up the country 
east, so as to infringe upon their population and destroy their schools. 
They were distinctly told that no other talk would ever be delivered 
by the President to the Choctaws east of the Mississippi ;. and that if 
they refused to treat, the patience of the President would be exhausted — 
they must submit to the consequences, and the nation be discarded 
from the friendship and protection of the whites ; that the Choctaws 
and the whites could no longer befriends and brothers, and the Choc- 
taw name v^ould be irrevocably lost ; that General Jackson had come 
to preserve them, and if they did not treat, no foresight could calcu- 
late their distresses; that a heavy cloud might burst upon them, and 
they would be without friends to counsel or protect them ; and that 
their existence was in their own hands, as a refusal to treat might be 
fatal to them as a nation. They were, over and over, assured that all 
who chose to remain might do so and be happy ; that those who did 
should become citizens of the United States, and have suitable reserv- 
ations, including their improvements, and be protected by the laws of 
the United States ',. that the President would give them the land west 
of the Mississippi, and there perpetuate them as a nation; that their 
white brethren would not then ask them for anymore land, and they 
were only required to cede such a part as would not interfere with 
their schools, or infringe upon the great body of their poimlation ; 
that the President wished to perpetuate the Choctaws as a nation by 
collecting all who had emigrated, or should emigrate, and settling 
them together, upon land of their oivn, beyond the Mississippi; that 
if they did not treat, Congress would take the business into its own 
hands, as they had a right, by tlie treaty of Hopewell, to manage the 
affairs of the Choctaw nation ; that if they would cede part of their 
lands, the pegs should be driven down, and the lines distinctly marked, 
so that they could never be altered until they requested it themselves, 
or until they were advanced to that state of civilization when the land 
would be apportioned out to each family or individual in the nation. 

Such was the conduct of the government towards us on that memo- 
rable occasion, when, by bribery of some of our chief men, and by 
" threats and cajolery," we were betrayed and coerced into the 
treaty of 1820, and a further cession of lands, contrary to our Avishes 
and i)revious solemn determination. 

That treaty ceded and conveyed to us our present country west 
of the Mississippi, in part satisfaction of the cession made by us east. 
The country west was not ceded to us, " to be held as other Indian 



• 23 

lands are held," as is generally, if not universally, tlie case when the 
mere Indian title is conveyed. It was an out-and-out cession of the 
country, which we purchased with a large and important part of our 
cherished and far more valuahle possessions east of the Mississippi. 
It was conveyed to us as land of our own, where we were to be ])er- 
petuated, as stated by General Jackson, and therefore in perpetuity, 
and, consequently, in fee-simple. It was intended and understood as 
a grant in fee-simple — as a purchase, as such, by the Choctaws. The 
Secretary of War (Mr. Calhoun) regarded and recognised the trans- 
action as a full and complete purchase and sale; and when, in 1825, 
he purchased back from us a portion of our western country lying 
within the present limits of the fetate of Arkansas, he inserted in the 
treaty, on that occasion, that the new line then established should 
^^ constitute and remain the permanent boundary between the United 
States and the Choctaivs." The delegation with which this treaty 
was made had urged that this should be expressed in the strongest possi- 
ble terms ; and, in answer to an inquiry from the War Department on 
the subject, in 1826, under another administration of that depart- 
ment, the officers in charge of the Indian Bureau stated, or intima- 
ted, that our lands west were " guarantied to us forever." Commis- 
sioners appointed in that year by the government to endeavor to buy 
out our remaining lands in Mississippi, said the same thing. Thus 
we had a full, complete, and permanent title to our present country 
which no after treaty stipulation or law was needed to complete or 
strengthen. 

The treaty of 1820 secured, or stipulated to secure, to us a similar 
title to our remaining lands in Mississippi. G-eneral Jackson then 
told us that, at a future time, these lands should " be apportioned out 
to each family or individual in the nation;" in fee-simple, of course, 
and a provision to that effect was accordingly inserted in the treaty. 
The result of the foregoing facts is, that the cession of our remain- 
ing country east, by the treaty of 1830, was not a cession of a mere 
possessory right to them^ but of one that was a complete and perma- 
nent character, fully equivalent to, if not in fact, a fee-simple title. 
And the lands west, again guarantied to us by the treaty of 1830, 
formed no part of the compensation for the cession of those east. We 
already owned and had them by a title equal in validity and strength 
to that assured to us in the treaty of 1830 ; and the provision in that 
instrument on the subject was not put there to strengthen our tenure, 
or to change it into one of a really different character, but to give us 
a specific pledge of permanent title, to be embodied in a patent, in 
conformity with the policy of the act of Congress, then but recently 
passed, of May 28, 1830. These facts are of material importance, 
with reference to any vagueness or inexplicateness in the treaty, on 
the question of our right to the proceeds of our lands, or to any doubt 
as to the proper and just construction of that instrument on that point. 
Before proceeding to cite other facts still more important on this 
point, connected with the inception and formation of the treaty of 
1830, we will here state, that although every assurance was given to 
us by the commissioners that made the treaty of 1820, that we were 
to remain in the undisturbed and permanent possession of our remain- 



24 . 

ing lands east, and they were secured to us by the treaty, to he event- 
ually divided among us in fee-simple, yet only a few years had 
elapsed when possession of them was sought hy the government, a 
commission having been appointed to obtain them in 1826. These 
commissioners offered us one million of dollars ; payment of the value 
of our improvements — equal to half a million more ; expenses of our 
emigration and subsistence; and reservations to the extent of 300,000 
acres. We refused to treat on any terms, being determined not to 
dispose of our remaining lands. This was the feeling of the nation 
when we were again approached for the same object, in 1830. Some 
restless, dissatisfied, aftd mischievous persons among us, however, 
took it upon themselves to cause it to be intimated to the government 
that we were desirous of selling our lands ; and this was made the 
pretext for sending commissioners to treat with us therefor. Our fixed 
determination to the contrary was again overcome, as in 1820, and 
in a somewhat similar manner. 

We were told by the commissioners, that if we did not cede our lands 
and remove west, the State laws would be extended over us, and we 
would be liable to be sued in the courts, and to be tried and punished 
for any offences we might commit, and be subjected to taxes, com- 
pelled to work on roads, and attend musters, because Congress had 
not the power to prevent the States from extending their jurisdiction 
over us ; that if we persisted in remaining east of the Mississippi, we 
must surrender the lands west, and there would be no more offers to 
treat with us ; no more commissioners would be sent to us, and we would 
be left to ourselves and to the operation of the State laws. After hear- 
ing the first talk of the commissioners, we refused to treat; but after 
similar representations, and the liberal inducements held out to us, 
the treaty was agreed on, and signed in great haste, and amidst 
much confusion and excitement. A large portion of our people were 
greatly opposed to it. There was so much feeling upon the subject, 
that it was dangerous for the commissioners to remain, and they had 
>v to hurry off immediately after the treaty. 
^ From what the commissioners promised and said to us, we clearly 
understood that we were to receive the full benefit of the proceeds of 
our lands when they were sold. They said : "It is not your lands, 
but your hap]nness, that we seek; we seek no advantages, and will 
take none. Your Grreat Father would not approve such a course. 
He has sent us, not as traders, but as friends and brothers, and to act 
as such. We will thus act, be assured. We come not to practise im- 
position upon our Choctaw friends, but to extend to them justice. 
This we will do." * * They had come to protect the Choctaws 
from injury, "not to cavil with them about prices. As for their 
lands, the government cared nothing , for it had enough. Iheir ohject 
ivas merely the possession of tli country, luithout regard to anything of 
value or profit to he obtained from its sale." We were given clearly 
to understand, not only that the United States were to receive noth- 
ing of the "value or profit" from the sale of the lands, but that the 
benefit thereof was to inure to us, and we understood the treaty to 
provide accordingly; though, as stated, it was completed under cir- 
cumstances of great confusion and excitement, so that it was difficult 



25 

for us to obtain a clear comprehension of the precise force and cflfect 
of its provisions as written out ; and it was read to us but once before 
it was signed. Among the chief inducements to many of our people > 
to assent to the treaty were the stipulations for reservations in the 
14th and 19th articles, particularly the former; under which, all that 
chose to do so, could remain and receive quantities of land sufficient 
to make them independent. The reservations of this class, according/ 
to the talk of the commissioners, were not to be assigned merely as so 
much land, but were to be taken with reference to a stated rate of 
value, viz : the minimum price of government lands ; and those who 
received them were not to participate in the pecuniary benefits of the 
treaty. There was thus to be a kind of settlement between those who 
remained and those who should emigrate, with reference to the bene- 
fit to be derived from the value of the land. The former were to re- 
ceive, as their share, large portions of the land, according to its esti- 
mated real value, and the latter the benefit of the remainder. If this 
were not so, wh}^ fix a rate of value for the lands to be taken out of 
the cession by the reservations, as was done by the commissioners ? 

There was a large portion of our people disposed to remain and take 
reservations; but as the principal object of the government in making 
the treaty was to eft'ect our removal, and it was anxious and urged 
and insisted that we should go, and as we were to get the benefit of 
the value of our lands, the great body were induced to forego the 
privilege of remaining, and to submit to the policy of the government 
by emigrating. 

We will now call your attention to the provisions of the treaty 
itself. The 18th article says : "And for the payment of the several 
amounts secured in this treaty^ the lands hereby ceded are to remain 
a fund pledged to that purpose until the debt shall be provided for 
and arranged." Now, the lands could not constitute a fund, nor was 
it them that were to remain pledged for the payments mentioned in 
the treaty ; for they were to be surveyed and sold. It was the pro- 
ceeds thereof that were to remain a pledged fund. This and other 
loose and unprecise language in the treaty, shows how inartificially 
it was drawn up, (to use an expression of a former Commissioner of 
Indian Aftairs we have heard of, in relation to the treaty made with 
the Cherokees in 1835,) and how easily a construction might be placed 
upon some of its provisions that would do us great injustice. Not a 
dollar of this fund was to be touched ; it was to remain pledged as it 
accumulated. The government could not use any portion of it for its 
own purposes ; it was to remain a sacred trust, to be held inviolate 
for our ultimate use and benefit. AVe presume it has been lield and 
preserved intact, though, reposing on the pledge in the treat)', we 
have not felt at liberty to intimate a doubt of the good faith of the 
government by making even an inquiry on that subject. 

If this fund was not to belong to us after the payments mentioned 
in the treaty — the debt therein referred to — had been ''provided for and 
arranged," why was a provision so novel and unusual in an Indian 
treaty inserted in that with us? There was certainly no necessity 
therefor, if the fund was to belong to the government. It had am])le 
means, to say nothing of its credit. It had then, as now, a rapidly 



26 

accumulating revenue, which, in a few years, enabled it to pay off the 
whole of its national debt, and to distribute a large surplus among 
the different States. No such pledge was, therefore, necessary to se- 
cure the comparatively paltry payments, for special purposes, provided 
for in the treaty ; and the Choctaws did not require, or even think of 
requiring, any security for that purpose. Why, also, if we had no 
further interest in the lands after their cession — if they and all their 
proceeds belonged entirely to the government — was it necessary or 
expedient to make the stipulation with us, for their survey and sale, 
that is contained in this same 18th article of the treaty? If we had 
no further rights in regard to them, it would have mattered not to us 
what became of them. The government could have done anything 
it pleased with them. It could have surveyed and sold them, or not, 
as it chose. It could even have given them all away as they stood, 
without survey, had it deemed such a disposition of them expedient 
and proper. But, sir, there is not a doubt on our minds upon this 
subject. These provisions were put in the treaty for our sole and ex- 
clusive benefit, and to carry out the promises of the commissioners 
and the understanding founded thereon — that we, and not the gov- 
ernment, were to have the whole of "the value or profit" of our 
lands. The fund, after the payment of the proper charges upon it, 
therefore, belongs to us, and not to the government. Such was 
our understanding, and such is the treaty, justly and fairly con- 
strued. But were there any just ground for doubt on this subject — 
which we do not admit — this 18th article of the treaty is wound up 
and closed with the very significant provision, "that in the construc- 
tion of this treaty, whenever well-founded doubt shall arise, it shall 
be construed most favorably towards the Choctaws." The addition 
of this stipulation to this particular article is significant. To us it 
was pecuniarily the most important article in the treaty; and with re- 
spect to it particularly, if there should be any doubt as to its just 
construction, it was to "be construed most favorably towards the 
Choctaws." 

It may be asked why, if it was the understanding and intention 
that we were to have the actual proceeds of our lands, this was not 
clearly and specifically expressed in the treaty? To this we can only 
answer, that such was our understanding and such the intention of 
the commissioners, as their talks to us show, though, as written out 
and printed, they fall short of what was said and promised to us. It 
is clear, therefore, that the United States did not seek or desire any 
portion of the benefit of the "value or profit," that might be derived 
from the sale of the lands; and that it was, consequently, to inure to 
the Choctaws. The commissioners were gentlemen of high standing 
and character. We had confidence in them, and that they would so 
fix the treaty as to perfect and carry out what they had clearly given 
us to understand and they had promised. We supposed tliis was 
done, and have never entertained a doubt on the subject. The treaty, 
it is true, might has^e been more explicit; and, but for our reliance 
upon the commissioners, we might have looked more closely to its 
exact wording. But Indians never confide partially; and we had full 
confidence in the commissioners, and supposed the treaty was all right. 



And we were compelled to rely upon them the more, because, as we 
have stated, the treaty was made and signed under circumstances 
that prevented our people from having the opportunity to examine 
and reflect upon its phraseology, that their limited intelligence and 
want of education required, to enable them to com])rehend whether 
their understanding of it on all points was fully and clearly expressed. 
We have said that our view of our pecuniary rights under the 
treaty of 1830, is in accordance with justice. We already owned the 
lands west. They are not, in any respect, to be considered as consti- 
tuting any part of the compensation to be made us for those east. 
The latter we owned and held under assurances and pledges, which 
gave us a title to them of far greater dignity and strengtli than what 
is generally known as the mere "Indian title." We held, or had a 
right to them, under a fee-simple title, and we were therefore entitled 
to their full value according to what they could be sold for by a judi- 
cious course of management. Were we denied their proceeds, and 
confined to the comparatively paltry sums, for particular purposes, 
specified in the treaty, we should be deprived of what is just and 
right, and was promised to us, and the treaty would be made a cheat 
and a fraud. 

The reservations and payments to individuals comprised no part of 
the compensation for the country ceded. The former, and, in part, 
the latter, were nothing less than bribes or inducements held out to 
the cupidity of individuals to procure their assent to the treaty ; and 
such of the latter as did not partake of this character, were mere 
indemnity for individual property. We have not the means of 
making an exact calculation, but all the other obligations and pay- 
ments mentioned in the treaty, that could in any way be considered 
as constituting compensation for our country, fall considerably short 
of one million of dollars, as we have no doubt you will find on an 
examination of that point. They do not amount to half of what we 
were offered in 1826, when we promptly, and without hesitation, re- 
jected the proposition and offers of the government ; and it is cer- 
tainly not to be regarded as at all likely, that only four years after 
that time, with no change in our sentiments against ceding our 
country, we would consent to receive a sum therefor materially less 
than we had then refused. It is known that the value of our improve- 
ments, not provided for in the treaty, and the property lost by us 
during emigration, would amount to more than the aggregate of the 
obligations and payments referred to ; so that, in fact, unless we ob- 
tain what we are now contending we are entitled to, we shall receive 
no real compensation whatever for the large and valuable cession 
made by us in the treaty of 1830. 

We ceded over or full seven millions of acres of as fine and valua- 
ble country as the government ever obtained from any Indian tribe ; 
and the obligations and payments to which we have referred, men- 
tioned in the treaty, would not constitute a compensation anything 
like adequate, even for the mere Indian title, while that by which we 
held the country was of far greater value, and entitled us to a far 
larger measure of compensation. 

In claiming the proceeds of our lands we ask for nothing more than 



28 

was alloAved to other tribes about the same time, and even to some 
who hehl their possessions only by the generally and unjustly depre- 
ciated " Indian title." It was conceded to the Chickasaws and others 
as a right to which they were entitled. The former lived by our side, 
and their country, though adjoining ours, was less desirable and val- 
uable, and they held it only by the Indian title. We know of nO 
reason why we should be less liberally dealt with. On the contrary, 
we believe that if there be anyone Indian tribe which, more than any 
other, is deserving of generous and magnanimous treatment by the 
government, that tribe is the Choctaws. Our relations with the 
United States have always been of an important character — more so 
than those of most other tribes ; but we have given the government 
less trouble and concern, we venture to assert, than any other of our 
strength and importance. 

The Choctaws have always been the fast friends of the United 
States and their citizens. They have stood by them in war, fought 
on their side, and freely shed their blood in their defence. Neitlier 
the eloquence of the renowned Tecumseh, nor the rich presents sent 
to them by the British during the last war with that power, could 
induce them to break their pledges of friendship and fidelity. They 
were importuned and beseeched by their misled brethren, the Creeks, 
to join them in their hostilities against the United States. They re- 
fused. The Creeks then begged them to remain neutral. They an- 
swered by sending that great captain. General Jackson, an effective 
force to aid him in subduing them ; while, during the hostilities, they 
guarded and saved from destruction many of the white settlements in 
that section of the country. The Choctaws have never raised the 
hatchet against the United States ; they have never stained their 
hands with the blood of a white man ; and no American citizen has 
ever had good cause to complain of wrong or injustice received at 
their hands. They have always submitted quietly and uncomplain- 
ingly to the policy and wishes of the government — too much so, in 
fact, for their own interests. Other tribes that have acted differently 
have been treated with far more liberality. 

We ask you, our respected agent and friend, and at the same time 
the representative and friend of the government, to examine some- 
what into our past transactions with it ; to ascertain the vast amount 
of territory we have ceded to it at different times, and for how inade- 
quate an amount of consideration, and to satisfy yourself whether our 
unvarying good faith, long-tried fidelity, quiet submission to the policy 
of the government, and the very limited and inadequate benefits we 
have received from it in return, do not now, at so important a crisis 
in the history of our people, entitle us, and our views and wishes, to 
the most liberal and generous consideration. 

With great regard, your obedient and humble servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN, 
ISRAEL FOLSOM, 
SAMUEL GARLAND, 
DICKSON W. LEWIS, 

Choctaw Delegation. 

Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, 

U. S. Agent for Choctaws, Washington City. 



29 

Washington, May 15, 1854. 
Sir : Having presented, in a separate communication, our views 
and those of our people in regiird to their pecuniary rights, and the 
arrangement that should be made in reference thereto, we now pn^ceed 
to present an outline of such other matters as it seems to us should be 
considered and provided for, in any new treaty to be substituted lor 
the various stipulations of those now in force, for the purpose of sim- 
plifying and more accurately defining our relations with the govern- 
ment, and of adjusting all pending questions between it and the Choc- 
taws. 

1. The title by which we hold our country should be clearly stated, 
and its boundaries distinctly defined, so that there can be no question 
or doubt as to either ; and the boundaries of those parts of it which have 
not a natural and permanent boundary, should be accurately deter- 
mined and marked in a permanent manner 

Our eastern boundary was run many years since, and most of the 
marks have disappeared, so that, in many places, it is impossible to 
tell where it is. This renders us liable to disputes with the border 
citizens of Arkansas, which should be avoided, as difficulties are likely 
to arise therefrom. Our western boundary has never hf>en settled, and 
our relations with the wild tribes in that quarter, and other circumstances, 
render it equally important that our true limits in that direction should 
likewise be ascertained and marked in a proper and durable manner. 

2. A guarantee against intrusions from Indians of other tribes, unless 
with our assent, first properly obtained. 

We are now intruded upon, as you are aware, by several bands of 
Indians, who have no right; in our country — such as the Caddoes, 
Witchetaws, Biloxies, Kowishaties, and others — who have settled 
within our limits, and apparently with the intention ot remaining. We 
desire to provide against difficulty between them and our people, aris- 
ing out of tneir intrusion upon us ; and we therefore feel constrained 
to request that the government either provide them with homes else- 
where, or agree to make us a just and liberal compensation for their 
use and occupancy of a portion of our lands; otherwi-se, the Choctaws 
will insist upon their removal. 

'6. All white persons to be prohibited from coming into our country, 
except as follows : ist. Persons in the etnployment of the government; 
2d. Those having a special permit from the Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs, the superintendent, or our agent ; 3d. Those who may have 
occasion to travel through or within the country on proper and legiti- 
mate business, and conduct themselves peaceably ; and, 4th. t^uch as 
may be duly licensed to trade therein. None others to be permitted 
to come or reside in the country without the assent of the proper 
authorities of the tribe ; and all others to be subject and amenable to 
the laws of the Choctaw nation, or be liable to be removed therefrom, 
as intruders, by the United States agent, and the military if necessary, 
on the applicaiion of the authorities of the nation. 

4. No person to be licensed to trade in our countiy, but with the 
assent of the authorities of the tribe. 

We do not wish to be overrun with white traders ; and we desire to 
save our agent and the superintendent from the onerous and disagree- 



30 

able responsibility of discriminating between whom to license and 
whom not. We also desire to foster a commercial spirit amongst our 
own people, but it is impossible to do this when so many white men are 
pernjitted to trade in the country, as is generally the case. Having 
larger capital and more credit, they can go and settle down alongside 
of one of our own people engaged in trade, and break him up by un- 
derselling him for a time ; and, when that is accomplished, they can 
charge what they please ibr their goods. If a provision of the above 
character be objectionable, then we desire one requiring the previous 
assent of the authorities of the tribe as to the localities at which white 
persons shall carry on trade. 

5. All white persons trading in the country under license, to pay 
an annual tax to the nation as a compensation tor the land, timber, &c., 
occupied and used by them ; the amount to be assessed by the author- 
ities of the tribe, subject to the approval of the agent. 

6. The Choctaw nation to have jurisdiction of, and power to 
punish, all crimes and misdemeanors committed whhin the nation, 
whether by our own people, other Indians, or white persons, except 
such of the latter as shall come within either of the four classes first men- 
tioned in the third section or head hereof, who shall be punished by 
the authorities and according to the laws of the United States ; and 
except, also, crimes and misdemeanors committed ty Choctaws or 
other Indians in their country against said excepted white persons, or 
their property, which shall also be punished by the authorities and 
according to the laws of the United States ; but in all such cases as 
the latter, counsel to be provided, at the expense of the United States, 
to defend the individual or individuals arraigned therefor. 

7. The United States to protect the Choctaws from domestic or 
hostile aggressions from other Indians, and from wrong and injustice by 
them and by white men ; and the Choctaws, without undertaking to 
right or avenge themselves, to submit all such cases of grievance to 
the proper authority of the United States through their agent. 

8. The agency to be located as conveniently to the great body of 
the Choctaw people as may be compatible with a just regard to the 
convenience and interests of the government, in connection with the 
business of the agenc3^ ^'^ ^he location or fixing the boundaries thereof, 
or of any military post in the Choctaw country, no injury or injustice 
to be done to any Choctaw without full and adequate compensation 
being made therefor by the United States ; and the jurisdiction of the 
Choctaw nation to extend to all persons within the limits of the agency 
reserve, or within those of any military reservation within said nation, 
guilty of or charged with crimes or misdemeanors, who are amenable 
to its laws therefor. 

9. The United States, or any incorporated company, with the assent 
of the General Council of the Choctaw nation, to have the right of 
way through the Choctaw country, and the use and occupancy of so 
much land as may be necessary for a railroad or line of telegraphs ; 
but lor which privilege, as well as for all materials required and taken 
for either of said objects, a reasonable compensation shall be made to 
the Choctaw nation, to be determined by the General Council of the 



ai 

Choctaw nation, subject to the approval of the Choctaw agent and the 
President of the United States. 

10. A careful geological and mineralogical survey of the Choctaw 
country to be made under the direction and at the expense of the 
United States. 

11. The Choctaws to have the use of all navigable streams, ferries 
and roads out of their nation, on the same terms as citizens of the 
United States, and the latter the use of the same in the Choctaw coun- 
try on the same terms as Choctaws. 

12. The agent for the Choctaws to have jurisdiction over the whole 
Choctaw country ; he alone to grant licenses to trade therein — or, in 
his absence, the superintendent, and he only to attend to the removal 
of intruders from the country, &c. Any other agent or agents within 
the lirnits of the Choctaw nation, to be restricted to the management 
of matters in which the latter has no interest whatever. 

13. No one connected with a military post, or any other person, 
to be permitted to farm or raise stock within the limits of a military 
reservation, except so far as may be necessary for the actual use of the 
garrison. 

14. The expenses incurred by the Choctaws in meeting the Chicka- 
saws to settle difficulties between them, to be refunded by the United 
States, an i also those of the present Choctaw delegation in Washington. 

15. Boundary lines of the Choctaw country to be surveyed and 
marked as soon as possible. Two Choctaw commissioners to accom- 
pany the surveyor appointed to perform that duty, and to be paid a 
fair compensation and their expenses, by the United States. 

16. Bounty land and pensions to be granted to those who served in 
the military service of the United States, in the same manner as to 
white persons who served therein. 

17. In the event of a new treaty, an ample number ot copies of the 
same, and also of the laws regulating trade and intercourse with the 
Indian tribes, and the regulations of the Indian Department, to be fur- 
nished for the use of the nation. 

We submit with some diffidence the foregoing outlines, which, 
with the suggestions contained in our previous communications to the 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs and yourselt^, we think embrace sub- 
stantially all the objects necessary to be provided for in order to accom- 
plish the important purposes we have in view. 

With respectful regard, your most obedient servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN, 
ISRAEL FOLSOM. 
SAMUEL GARLAND, 
DICKSON W. LEWIS, 



Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, 

U. S. Agent/or Choctaws. 



Choctaw DeUgates. 



32 

D. 

Washington, May 25, 1854, 

Sir : On the receipt of your letter of instructions of the 20th ultimo, 
I immediately notified the Choctaw delegation of the purport there- 
of, a copy of my communication to them being herewith enclosed, 
marked A. 

From their answer, marked B, you will perceive, that, being una- 
ble to anticipate what action would be had on their communication to 
you of April 5th, (marked C,) they were not prepared forthwith to sub- 
mit an exposition of their views and wishes in reference to the matters 
whicli you instructed me to investigate and report upon, viz : "the 
character and extent of the claims of the Choctaws," and "the ar- 
rangement necessary for the purpose of settling all outstanding mat- 
ters, and simplifying the relations between the tribe and the United 
States." 

Their subsequent communication of the 1st instant, marked D, con- 
tains a full exposition of the character and the extent, in principle, of 
the demands of the Choctaws, as asserted by the delegation ; and, in 
connection with their communication to you, explains what they wish 
to have done in order to settle, finally, all outstanding matters of a 
pecuniary nature between their tribe and the government. 

Their letter of the 15th instant, marked E, embraces an outline of 
such provisions as tliey think necessary and desirable, to be substituted 
for tlie various stipulations of the different treaties now in force, for 
the purpose of simplifying and more accurately defining their relations 
with the United States. 

It will be seen that, by a construction which the delegation place 
upon the 18th article of the Choctaw treaty of 1830, in connection 
with facts and circumstances which they state, showing the position 
and rights of the Choctaws under previous treaties of 1820 and 1825, 
and the explanations and promises of the commissioners who nego- 
tiated the treaty of 1830, they claim that their people are entitled to 
the net proceeds of the lands ceded by them in 1830, after deducting 
the expense of their survey and sale, and the amount of the various 
obligations, or "debts," provided for in the treaty, so far as they 
have been discharged — for the payment of which the lands were 
pledged, to remain a fund for that purpose, under the 18th article. 

For reasons which they state, they urge the government now to 
'settle Avith them on this principle so far as the lands have been dis- 
posed of ; and that for those remaining unsold they be allowed a fair 
and reasonal^le compensation. 

They contend that a large amount of the obligations, or " debts," 
provided for in the treaty of 1830, remain unadjusted and unpaid; 
that there is no longer ground for hope that they will or can be set- 
tled, in detail, by the United States ; that this can only be done by 
the Choctaw nation, so as to secure some measure of justice with re- 
spect to the numerous individual rights still remaining unadjusted ; 
and they propose to release the United States from all outstanding 
claims under the treaty, and to settle and })ay them themselves, out 



33 

of whatever amount would be left to tliem, on the principle of settle- 
ment above stated. 

I have examined, with much care and deliberation, the communi- 
cation of the delegates from the Choctaws, of the 1st instant, in which 
they assert the claim to the proceeds of the sales of the lands em- 
braced in the cession of 1830, and have found the statement of facts 
and circumstances therein set forth to be, in the main, substantially 
correct, according to official documents. 

With reference to the treaty of 1820, see American State Papers, 
Indian Affairs, vol 2, pages 230, 231, 242, 244, 234-'5-"7-'9, 240, 
235-'6-'8-'9, 240, 702, 703— following the order in which the differ- 
ent facts and circumstances are stated. In regard to the treaty of 
1825 see the same papers, 549, 552 ; attempted negotiations in 1826, 
same papers, 709 to 717 ; treaty of 1830, see Senate Doc. 512, part 2d, 
Indian removal, 1st session 23d Congress, pages 256-'7-'8, 259, 
260-'l-'2-'3. 

While I think the delegation have made out quite a plausible case, 
I do not find the claim, as presented by them, sustained by the lan- 
guage of the treaty of 1830 ; nor have I been able to discover any evi- 
dence going to show that, at the time the treaty was made, there was 
any distinct and formal understanding that the Choctaws were to have 
any balance remaining of the proceeds of the lands, after the payment 
of the obligation or del3ts provided for in that instrument. 

It is true^ as appears from the '' talk" of the commissioners on the 
part of the United States, to the Choctaws, the latter were given to 
understand it was the mere possession of the lands which the govern- 
ment desired ; that it did not expect, or desire^ any pecuniary advan- 
tage or profit from their sale, and that the sole objects sought under 
the proposed treaty were the benefit and welfare of the Choctaws. Yet 
the commissioners doubtless expected that the obligations and pay- 
ments which they proposed and provided for in the treaty would fully 
equal the value of the lands, and leave no profit to the United States 
from their sale. The idea that there would, under the treaty, be any 
pecuniary profit resulting to the government, would certainly be incon- 
sistent with the "talks" of the commissioners, as reported by them- 
selves, and the well-known friendship of President Jackson for the 
Choctaws. At the same time, it is to be presumed, if there had been 
any distinct agreement that the Choctaws were to receive the proceeds 
of the lands ceded, it would have been so provided in the treaty itself. 
I learn that President Jackson regretted that it had not been so stipu- " 
.lated. It is, however, apparent, from the 18th article of the treaty, 
that the lands ceded were to be sold ; and the proceeds remain a fund, 
in the hands of the government, pledged for the satisfaction of all 
claims arising under the treaty of 1830, as well as former treaties, 
either in favor of the nation or individual Choctaws. 

The 18th article of the treaty raises a trust, and makes the United^ 
States trustee for certain purposes, viz: for the adjustment and satis- 
faction of individual as well as natural claims under it. 

If this construction be correct, although there was no express un- 
derstanding that the proceeds of the sales of the lands belonged to 
the Choctaws upon the universal rule which applies to all trusts and 
3 



a4 

p^overns all trustees, or other persons acting in a fiduciary capacity ; 
if, after providing for and discharging all the obligations or "debts" 
intended to be secured by the donor or grantor, any balance arising 
from the sale of property thus conveyed — after paying all necessary 
expenses incurred in executing the trust — remain in the hands of the 
trustee, it results to the donor or grantor ; and if there is a doubt 
on this point, the Choctaws are entitled to the benefit of it, according 
to the treaty, 18th article. Had the Choctaws, generally, availed 
of the benefits of the 14th and 19th articles, allowing reservations, the 
whole value of the remaining lands would have been absorbed in satis- 
faction of the various other obligations or "debts" arising under the 
treaty. There would have been but little, if any, saleable land left. 

The great body of the Choctaw nation, however, quietly yielded, 
as this tribe has generally done, to the wishes and policy of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, and removed west of the Mississippi 
river; thereby, to some extent, losing the benefits of the treaty. But 
assuming that the treaty means, and was intended to mean, nothing 
more than it expresses, that the commissioners intended thereby to 
carry out what they gave the Choctaws to understand, and that the 
lands were only pleged for that purpose, the question arises, what 
was the extent and amount of the obligations of all kinds secured, or 
intended to be secured, under the treaty, and which the United States 
was bound to pay, or make good? And how have these obligations 
been carried out ? 

These constituted the consideration or price agreed to be allowed 
the Choctaws for the cession of their lands ; and, in so far as they 
have not been carried out, injustice has been done, either to the tribe 
or individuals of the tribe. And to whatever extent there has been 
a failure on the part of the government to secure, pay, or make good 
the losses, it is still a subsisting equitable claim upon it in favor of 
the individual claimants ; and in default of their assertion of the claim, 
then to the nation, which was charged to the extent of such claims 
in making the treaty. With a view of arriving at some definite and 
just conclusion on this point, I have sought information as to the 
amounts paid and expended by the government under the various 
provisions of the treaty of 1830, or former treaties^, and the amounts 
thereof. I am informed it can be ascertained only by an examination 
of the original accounts and vouchers on file in the Auditor's office, 
which would require the labor of several months ; I have therefore 
been compelled to abandon the attempt. 

I proposed, also, to make a comparative statement of the extent or 
amount of the obligations under treaty stipulations, and the net pro- 
ceeds of the lands as far as sold, but have not been able to obtain the 
requisite information from the G-eneral Land Office. I have been told 
there that it would take one clerk a year to furnish a correct state- 
ment of the quantity sold, the amount realized therefrom, and the 
proportion remaining unsold. 

I do not perceive how any satisfactory settlement can be made with 
the Choctaws, based upon the principle of carrying out faithfully the 
treaty stipulations and obligations, without such information ; and 
even with it the result would be uncertain, from the difficulty, if not 



35 

impossibility, of ascertaining with any degree of precision the actual 
extent of several of the obligations ])rovided for in the treaty which 
the United States have not paid or made good — such as the claims of 
many persons to reservations under the 14th and 19th articles of the 
treaty, who were deprived of them by the instrumentality or the laches 
of the United States government, and who have never received any 
compensation therefor ; the claims of those who lost their improve- 
ments in consequence of the loss of their reservations ; claims of indi- 
viduals for the value of stock for which they have never been paid, 
though fully intended and provided for in the treaty of 1830. (See 
Major Armstrong's report and tabular statement of cultivation claims, 
under article 19, treaty of 1830, Senate Doc, Indian removal, 512, 
part 2, 1st session 23d Congress, pages 630, 631.) 

That there are many just claims of these and other descriptions 
arising under the treaty remaining unadjusted there can be no doubt, 
and which, for the reasons stated in the communications of the Choc- 
taw delegation, under date 5th April and 1st May, cannot be settled 
in the manner provided for in the treaty, or in the laws of Congress, 
(passed for the purposes of adjudicating them^) so as to do justice. 
(See act of 1842, creating a board of commissioners, approved 23d 
August.) 

In conclusion, I herewith submit a comparative estimate or approx- 
imate statement, marked F, (filed by the Choctaw delegation since 
their letter of the 1st instant,) of the obligations provided for in the 
treaty, and the probable amount of the proceeds of the ceded lands, 
prepared from the best information they could obtain. 

I have examined this statement carefully, and, from the most relia- 
ble information I am possessed of, obtained in the Choctaw country 
and here, I am inclined to think that part of it embracing the extent 
of the obligations under the treaty is as nearly correct as it could be 
made at this late date. 

I am not prepared, however, to endorse all their estimates for dam- 
ages, such as attorneys' fees, &c., incurred in prosecuting their claims, 
lost property, &c. 

How far the other portion of it, respecting the proceeds of the ceded 
lands, will correspond with the actual results, I, of course, cannot say, 
having no means of judging. 

The only plans upon which a settlement satisfactory to the Choc- 
taws, under all the circumstances, can be made, would be, either to 
place them upon the same footing with the most favored tribes — such 
as the Wyandotts and Chickasaws, with whom treaties were concluded, 
a short time after the Choctaw treaty of 1830 — allowing them the 
proceeds of the lands, after deducting all expenses incurred by the 
United States in their survey and sale, and all money, and the cost of 
all articles furnished them ; or to allow them a reasonable sum of 
money as a compromise, in lieu of claims under the treaty of 1830.. 
I have examined the several propositions made by the Choctaw dele- 
gates, with a view of simplifying and more accurately defining their 
relations with the government, and will notice them in their order. 

1st. The title of the Choctaws to their country is already accu- 
rately defined ; but I am of opinion that the United States ought ' 



36 

to propose to the Choctaws to have a survey of their country, and an 
assignment or allotment of land made in severalty to each citizen of 
the Choctaw nation, and that the remainder shall he subject to sale, 
or entry, by such persons as the council of the nation may admit, 
from time to time, to citizenship, and the proceeds he invested for 
the benefit of the nation. 

Care should be taken to provide sufficient guard against the alien- 
ation of the lands by persons who are incompetent to manage their 
affairs. 

The bounds of the Choctaw country shall be established, and 
marked by permanent monuments, along the border of Arkansas, and 
along the western line, between Red river and the Canadian river, 
for reasons sufficiently set forth in the letter of the 15th May instant, 
from the Choctaw delegation. 

2d. The request that some arrangement should be made between 
the Choctaw nation and the government to secure permanent homes 
to various bands of Indians, now residing in the Choctaw country, is 
reasonable and just, and should be acceded to, so far as it can be done 
without violation of the treaty of 1836, concluded at Camp Holmes, 
between the Comanches, Witchetaws and other associated bands, upon 
one side, and the Muscogees or Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, Senecas, 
and Quapaws on the other, with the consent and approval of the Presi- 
dent and Senate of the United States. 

3d. This proposed provision is right in all except the request to be 
permitted to punish a certain class of white men by Choctaw laws 
and courts. The objection, in my mind, to that part of the provision 
is, that it would probably lead to difficulties with the people on the 
borders of Arkansas and Texas, and embroil the Choctaws speedily 
with them, and perhaps adjoining Indian tribes. 

4th. I object to this provision, on the ground that it is necessary 
that the agent representing the United States should control every 
white citizen of the States who may settle in the Indian country, for 
any purpose whatever; and, second, that a monopoly of trade by the- 
Indians, or by certain white men, who are able to buy the privilege 
from the Choctaw government, would result in great injury to the 
mass of the Choctaw people. Free trade, and competition among 
traders, reduces the prices of goods to a fair remunerating standard. 
Under the treaty, as it stands, there can be no monopoly, either by 
white or Indian traders. It is proper, however, that the national 
authorities of the Choctaws should be consulted as to the locations 
outside the united reservations, where merchants may fix themselves. 
5th. It is proper that those merchants residing outside the agency 
reserve, and any military reserve, should pay for the wood and timber 
used by them, either to the nation or the individual owner of the 
lands from which it may be taken. 

6th. I an;i of opinion that it would not conduce to the peace and wel- 
fare of the Choctaw people to allow them to punish criminally citi- 
zens of the United States, or Indians of adjoining or neighboring 
tribes, although they now have the right to punish the latter. It 
would speedily involve them in difficulty. 
7th, I consider entirely proper. 



37 

8tli. It is proper that the agency should be located according to the 
convenience of the government and the Choctaw people ; and that 
criminals taking refuge on the reserve should he surrendered to the 
Choctaws for trial and punishment, and the particular mode and 
manner of demanding such surrender should be provided. 

The 9th, 10th, and 11th propositions I approve. The 12th should 
be so modified as to make all United States agents located with tribes 
of Indians living within the jurisdiction of the Choctaw country sub- 
agents to the regular agent for the Choctaws. The country is too 
large for one agent to give his personal attention to all the bands now 
located, or that may hereafter be located, within the Choctaw country, 
sufficiently to protect the interests of the government and of the In- 
dians. At the same time, too, the United States government is bound 
by treaty stipulations to keep an agent near some of these tribes, 
whose duty it is to protect especially the interests of those tribes. 

In all matters of mere tribal interest the agent or sub-agent for the 
tribe should have exclusive control^, but in matters of interest to the 
nation the agent for the Choctaw nation should have a controlling 
influence. 

I approve articles 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th. 

In addition to the above, I would respectfully suggest an article to 
provide for the inventory, appraisement, and management of the 
estates of decedents in the Indian country who were not citizens of 
the Choctaw nation, upon the principle and rules which govern con- 
sular agents residing abroad ; and that the extent of the power of the 
agent to settle controversies involving the right of property, between 
whites and Indians, and between Indians of different tribes and Choc- 
taws, should be determined and prescribed ; and also, that provision 
be made for raising a reasonable Indian force, to be paid by the 
United States and subject to the orders of the government agent, to 
be used for the prevention of the liquor trade, to enforce the law and 
the orders of the United States agent made in conformity therewith, 
and to preserve peace on the frontier and in the Indian country : so 
far as the Choctaw nation is concerned, indeed, there should be some 
general law on the subject. 

The War Department is gradually removing our military posts 
further west, and it will be found necessary to invest the agents of 
the government residing among the border tribes with sufficient 
power to maintain order and command the respect of the lawless men 
who congregate thereabout. This can only be done by physical force. 
It would be more acceptable and satisfactory to the more advanced 
tribes to have their own people employed for such purposes, instead 
of using the regular military force among them. 

At the same time, it is requisite that such Indian force should be 
in the pay and subject to the orders of the United States officers. 

In conclusion, not having time to make a full report on this 
branch of the subjects presented to me by the Choctaw delegation, I 
would advise a careful examination of the existing treaty of 1830, 
which contains nearly all the features proposed by the Choctaws to 
be incorporated in the new one they contemplate making, and to copy 



38 

tliose stipulations, as far as they are suited to the present wants of the 
Choctaws, adding such new features as may be necessary. 

The old treaty is generally understood by the Choctaws, and relied 
upon mainly for their protection against foreign enemies and domestic 
strife, and should be changed as little as possible. The new treaty, 
if one be concluded, should state, under one head, concisely all the 
annuities or other money obligations, of the United States, due the 
Choctaws, and on what account, so that all may understand the 
financial condition of the tribe. 

All which is respectfully submitted, 

DOUGLAS H, COOPER, 

U. S. Agent for Choctaws. 
Hon. Geo. W, Manypenny, 

Com. of Indian Affairs, Washington City, D. C. 



Estimate of the several amounts in lands, money, farming utensils, rijies, 
blankets, removal and subsistence, Sfc, ^c, inferided lo be secured to the 
Choctaw tribe of Indians under the various stipulafions contained in the 
Choctaw treaty nf 18J50 ; for the payment of which the tabids ceded to the 
United States by the Choctaws at that time were pledged. — {See article 
18th of treaty of 1830.) 

Art. 14. — 1,250 families, averaging 2 J sections of land, 
at SI 25 per acre, as reported by different boards of 
commissioners appointed by the United States $2,350,000 00 

Art. 15. — Reservations for chiefs, 12 

sections $9,600 00 

Salary of 3 chiefs, 20 years 15,000 00 

Priiicipal chief, 20 years 10,000 00 

3 speakers, $75, 4 years 300 00 

3 secretaries, $150, 4 years GOO 00 

99 captains, suitsof clothes and svi^ords 5,000 00 

Salary for 99 captains, 4 years.. . . . 19,800 00 

60,300 00 

Art. 16.— Removal and subsistence 1,200,000 00 

20,000 Indians, 20,000 cattle 100,000 00 

1,300,000 00 

Art. 17.— 20 years' annuity, $20,000 400,000 00 

Art. 18. — Damages arising in conse- 
quence of violation of this stipulation 
by the citizens and government of the 
United States, viz: 
1,250 families, claimants under article 

14th, for houses and improvements. $125,000 00 
Ditto, 800 families, under article 19. . 80,000 00 

205,000 00 

Art. 19. — Cultivation claims and other reservations, at 

$1 25 per acre 605,000 00 



39 

Art. 20. — Education of 40 Choctaw 

youths, 20 years $200,000 00 

Council- houses, &c 10,000 00 

Teachers 50,SS0 00 

Mill-wrights 3,000 00 

Blankets, looms, &c 200,000 00 



$513,SS0 00 
Art. 1. — Two supplementary treaty reservations 65,050 00 

5,599,230 00 
Expenses incurred by Choctaws in prosecution of claims 
under the treaty of 1830, and on account of being 
driven out from their homes 1,000,000 00 



Total 0,599,230 00 



Settlement on the prindjile of allowing net proceeds of lands. 

Total number of acres ceded to the United States un- 
der treaty of 1830, at $1 25 per acre; net proceeds 

at$l per acre $7,796,000 00 

Or— 

Deduct for scrip paid $1,740,000 00 

Reservations secured 300,000 00 

Money and other articles paid 2,178,529 00 

4,218.529 00 



Balance net proceeds 3,577.471 00 

Cr. — By unsaleable lands, at 62^ cents per acre 1,288,735 50 

Balance due Choctaws 2,266,735 50 



Amount secured hij treaty of 1830, yor which lands were pledged. 

United States Dr. to Choctaws, treaty stipulations... $6,599,230 00 
Cr.— By this amount paid 4,218,529 00 

Balance due Choctaws 2,380,701 00 



Washington, May 30, 1854. 

Sir: In accordance with the intention intimated by us, we now take 
the liberty of submitting, in writing, the substance of the "talk" we had 
the honor of delivering to you yesterday morning. 

In the first place, it becomes us to express our thanks for the kindness 
and courtesy with which we have thus flir been treated by you, as 
well as for the promptness of yourself and the honorable Secretary of 
the Interior, in putting the business submitted by us in a train of in- 
ves ligation. 

Our business has now come to an important point, and we hope 
that a full and liberal consideration will be given to it. The Choctaws 



40 

have been waiting patiently, for twenty odd years, for a just settlement 
under the treaty of 1S30, and we trust that such a settlement will 
soon be made. It is lime that all matters between them and the United 
States were finally settled and disposed of It is of great importance 
to them that this should be done. They wish to turn their whole 
attention and efforts to the improvement of their people, by the exten- 
sion of schools, and other means of enlightenment and civihzalion. 
It is of consequence to them to know what resources they will have 
to rely upon. It is their wish and intention to devote all their means 
to that great object; they hope, therefore, that the government will 
now deal liberally with them, so as to contribute to so important a 
result. They want, however, nothing but justice ; but this it is impos- 
sible for an Indian tribe to get, unless the government acts in a liberal 
spirit. 

They wish to say a few words in relation to the question of a sep- 
aration between the Choctaws and Chickasaws. There appears to 
be an effort to place the former in the wrong. It seems to be forgotten 
that the existing relations between the two tribes, and between them 
and the government, are based upon solemn treaty stipulations. The 
connection was not sought by the Choctaws, but by the Chicka- 
saws themselves. They were glad to obtain the privilege of coming 
among the Choctaws, on the terms and conditions they did. They 
entered into the arrangement freely and voluntarily. The government 
was a party thereto, and stands as guarantor for its propriety and justice. 
There is neither right nor reason in askin» the Choctaws to dissolve 
it on any idle pretext, and it is not to be. expected that they can, with 
any self-respect, consent to a change under charges of injustice which 
have no foundation. If the Choctaws have done the Chickasaws in- 
justice, let them prove it. The Choctaws are ready to meet that 
question, and to prove that all the charges and insinuations against 
them, of tyranny and injustice to the Chickasaws, are unfounded and 
unjust. If there are any real difficulties between the two tribes, — if the 
Chickasaws have any real grievances to complain of, let them be 
specified, and the Choctaws are willing to submit them to the arbi- 
trament of the government, in the manner provided for by the treaty. 
It has recently been settled between the two tribes, that this course 
shall be adopted ; and the Chickasaws are therefore stopped from 
further complaint, unless through the proper channel, as provided for 
in the treaty. 

The paramount question with the Choctaws now is, what is the 
disposition of the government towards them? Will it first do them 
justice, before pressing the Chickasaw question upon them? Much 
may depend upon the course of the government in this respect. 
Justice should first be done towards them before it is assumed that 
they are guilty of wrong towards the Chickasaws, and appealed to to 
do them justice. Let the government first answer, and answer liberally, 
the appeal of the Choctaws for justice, and they will then be disposed 
to discuss, in an equally hberal spirit, the Chickasaw question. Until 
the government shows what it is disposed to do towards them, they 
must eschew the Chickasaw question. They must obtain justice for 
themselves first, especially as they acknowledge no injustice towards 



41 

the Chicka saws. Should the government not deal liberally with them, 
and the Chickasaws continue to seek their end by misrepresenta- 
tion, as they have heretofore done, the Choctaws must and will resist 
them and their purposes, and to the utmost. Sooner than yield under 
such circumstances, they will say, both to the government and the 
Chickasaws, Let the latter leave the country, and take back all the 
money paid us for the privilege of coming there to reside. It is in the 
hands of the government; let it be given back to them, and let them 
find a more satisfactory home elsewhere. The Choctaws do not seek 
to oppose the policy of the government in this or any other matter ; 
they never have done so. They have always submitted quietly and 
peaceably — more so than any other tribe — more so than their true in- 
terests warranted. Had they been less submissive, it would have been 
better for them — pecuniarily at least, as it has been for other tribes. 
If a proper and just course is not pursued by the Chickasaws, they 
have not money enough to purchase a compliance with their wishes by 
the Choctaws. 

Finally, the Choctaws must adjourn any further discussion of the 
Chickasaw question until they can have a full and fair opportunity to 
settle their own affairs with the government. Two of the delegation 
now here are commissioners appointed to meet the Chickasaws on the 
first Monday in July next. They cannot be tliere ; they are under 
higher obligation to attend to the interests of their own people first. 
That meeting will therefore have to be adjourned. It would do no good 
were it to take place before the Choctaw business with the government 
is settled. Until that is done, the Choctaws must, as stated, decline to 
discuss the Chickasaw question. 

Thus much the delegation have deemed it proper to say to the Hon. 
Commissioner on this subject, in order that there may be no misappre- 
hension as to the position and course of the Choctaws. 

With much respect, we are your obedient servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN, 
SAMUEL GARLAND, 
DICKSON W. LEWIS, 

Choctaw Delegation. 

Hon. G. W. Manypenny, 

Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 



Department of the Interior, 

Washington, June 20, 1854. 

Sir: I have received and examined the report of agent Cooper and 
the accompanying papers, submitted to the department with your 
letter of the 31st ultimo. 

In regard to the claim of the Choctaw delegation, that the Indians 
are entitled to the net proceeds of the sales of the lands ceded by the 
treaty of 1830, "after deducting the amount of the obligations a,nd 
payments for which the lands were pledged," I am of the opinion 



42 

that by the 3d article of that treaty there is an unqualified cession to 
the United States of the Choctaw lands. The provision in article 18 
is nothing m re than a pledge of the lands for the payment of the 
several annuities secured by the treaty. 

Too great a length of time has elapsed since the congressional and 
executive action upon the subject-matter of the 14th and 19th articles 
of the treaty, and it is otherwise deemed inexj)edient to reopen the 
whole subject, and again enter into the inquiry of damages. 

If the annuities have not been paid according to treaty stipulations, 
let Congress or one of the houses make a call upon the Indian Office 
and the Second Auditor for the necessary statements and reports. 

With regard to the political, municipal, and internal regulations of 
the Choctaw nation, as some of the demands made by the Indians ap- 
pear to me to be strange and inadmissible, I would be pleased to re- 
ceive and consider such suggestions as your experience may enable 
you to make. 

The papers are herewith returned. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

E. McClelland, 

Secretary. 
Charles E. Mix, Esq., 

Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 



Department of the Interior, 

Office Indian Affairs, July 10, 1854. 

Sir: In reply to that part of your letter of the 20th ul imo stating 
that, " with regard to the political, municipal, and internal regulations of 
the Choctaw nation, as some of the demands made by the [ndians ap- 
pear to be strange and inadmissible, I [you] would be pleased to receive 
and consider such suggestions as your [my] experience may enable you 
[me] to make," I have the honor to remark that I do not understand the 
Chi)ctavvs as demanding the establishment of the regulations or pro- 
visions contained in their communication to agent Cooper of the 15th 
of May last. They are, I think, to be regarded as mere propositions 
for the consideration of the department, in case of a new treaty with 
the tribe, having for its object the s<!ttlement of all outstanding ques- 
tions, and the simplification of the relations between the Choctaws and 
the United States. 

Agent Cooper appears to have given them a careful consideration, 
and in his report of May 25th he has suggested such portions or 
features of them as appeared to him objectionable, and in what re- 
spects. 

In consequence of the pressure of other business I have not been able 
to give the subject a sufficient examination to enable me to determine 
how far his suigestions siiould be approved, and the propositions of 
the Choctaw delegation require other, if any, modification. I would re- 
spectflilly suggest that the matter does not require further considera- 
tion unless a new treaty is to be made with the Choctaws, as neither 



43 

the propositions of the delegation nor any others varying from existing 
treaty provisions could be established except by a new convention. 
Very respectfiilly, your obedient servant, 

CHARLES E. MIX, 

Acting Commissioner. 
Hon. R. McClelland, 

Secretary of the hiterior. 

P. S. — On the day the above report was prepared the Choctaw dele- 
gation called upon me to ascertain the situation of their business, and 
on my reading the letter of the honorable Secretary to them, they ex- 
pressed a wish to file a communication in answer to it, which they de- 
sired to be laid before him ; I therefore delayed sending in this report 
until they could be heard from. Their communication was rec( ived 
on the 12th, but could not be immediately copi( d without interfering 
with other business. A copy lliereof is herewith respectfully sub- 
mitted. 

C. E. M. 

July 22, 1S54. 



E. 

Washington, July 11, 1854. 

Sir : We told you, yesterday, on your reading to us the letter of 
the honorable Secretary of the Interior in relation to the matters we 
have submitted for the consideration of the department, that we were 
so surprised and mortified thereby, we would not trust ourselves to 
discuss verbally the points presented, but would address you a letter 
on the subject. 

We had confidently hoped that the papers submitted by us would 
satisfy the department of the justice and ])ropriety of making a final 
settlement with us, on the princii)le of allowing us the proceeds of 
our lands ceded by the treaty of 1830, which was our understanding 
of the intention of that instrument, based upon the talks and assu- 
rances of the commissioners who negotiated'' it. With the report of 
agent Cooper before him, we certainly expected nothing less than 
that the honorable Secretary would be satisfied that there was an ob- 
ligation resting upon the executive department of the government to 
cause a careful investigation to be made, for the purpose of ascertain- 
ing how far the treaty-engagements of the United States towards our 
people had been fulfilled. In the possible contingency of his not be- 
ing satisfied of the existing obligations of the government towards 
us, we took the precaution, soon after agent Cooi)er's report and 
other arguments were» laid before him, to address liini a communi- 
cation, stating that, in that case, we desired an o])portunity of being 
heard further in regard to the rights of our peo})le. From the time 
that has elapsed, and our having heard nothing from him on the sub- 
ject, we indulged the hope that he was satisfied as to our rights, 
as asserted by us, and that in time he would give us a favorable de- 
cision. His letter to you, without our having had an opportunity of 



o 



44 

being heard further, of course greatly surprised us. We ask permis- 
sion to submit a few remarks on the points contained in that letter. 
The honorable Secretary says that, with regard to the political, mu- 
nicipal, and internal regulations of the Choctaw nation, some of the 
demands made by us appear to be strange and inadmissible. Now, 
sir, we beg leave to say that he is altogether mistaken as to our hav- 
ing made any demands in that connexion. We have made none. The 
department had published to the country its views of the importance 
of new conventions with the various Indian tribes, to supersede exist- 
ing treaties, in order to simplify their relations with the United States. 
We notified it of our readiness to comply with its wishes in this par- 
ticular ; and we were called upon to submit our views as to the pro- 
visions which should be inserted in a new treaty with us, for the 
purpose of defining, in a clear and explicit manner, the relations and 
mutual obligations between the United States and the Choctaws. 
With due diffidence, and with all deference to the better judgment of 
our agent and the other authorities of the government, we frankly 
submitted our views in a series of propositions, for the consideration 
of the department. We made no demand, and insisted upon nothing. 
We simply complied with the invitation extended to us, leaving it to 
the department to approve, reject, or act upon our suggestions, as it 
thought proper. The honorable Secretary says that the cession by 
the third article of the treaty of 1830 was an unqualified one. In 
this he is greatly mistaken, as an examination of the treaty will show. 
The cession was on conditions of the fulfilment of the obligations im- 
posed by the treaty on the United States, and so long as one of those 
obligations remains undischarged, the United States do not possess a 
full and complete transfer of our title to the lands. It was precisely 
the same kind of cession as that by the Chickasaws and other tribes 
who were allowed the proceeds of the lands ceded by them ; and in case 
of representations on their part that the government had failed to do 
them justice, it would be just as legitimate and proper to interpose 
the allegation that the cessions by them were unqualified, as it is in 
the case of the Choctaws. 

The 18th article of the treaty of 1830 required our lands to be sur- 
veyed and sold, and the proceeds to remain a fund pledged for the dis- 
charge of the obligations imposed upon the United States. These 
proceeds, therefore, constituted a special trust fund in the hands of the 
government, which could not, consistently with the treaty, be mixed 
with and merged in its general funds. And we know that it was the 
view of at least one Secretary of War, while our business was in charge 
of the War Department, that there should have been kept a special 
account of that fund, with a view to a final settlement with the Choc- 
taws under the treaty. Adopting the construction given to the treaty 
by agent Cooper, the conditions of the cession consist of the various 
sums of money and advantages secured by the treaty to the Choctaws ; 
and so far as they, or any of them, have not been justly and properly 
"provided for and arranged" by the United States, there still re- 
mains in their hands a fund pledged for that purpose, arising from 
the sale of our lands. 

The Hon. Secretary says too great a length of time has elapsed 



45 

Bince the congressional and executive action upon the subject-matter 
of the 14th and 19th articles of the treaty, and it is otherwise deemed 
inexpedient to reopen the whole subject, and enter into the inquiry of 
damages. We have claimed nothing in the way of damages ; and 
how can the Hon. Secretary say that too great a length of time has 
elapsed since the congressional and executive action upon the subject- 
matter of the 14th and 19th articles of the treaty, when, so far, at 
least, as concerns the 14th article, there was congressional action as 
late as the two sessions of Congress preceding the present, and the 
executive action required thereby has not, so far as we are informed, 
ever yet been had? Permit us, however, to call attention to a part 
of the subject-matter of the 19th article of the treaty whicli seems to 
have escaped the Secretary's attention. We refer to what is known 
as the cultivation claims — the right of those who did not take or ob- 
tain reservations of land which they cultivated to a commutation in 
money therefor. A little examination will show that there has never 
been any settlement of these claims ; that there has been neither con- 
gressional nor any complete executive action for that purpose. Such 
also is the case with regard to other claims and rights under the treaty. 

But the action of Congress and the Executive, referred to by the 
honorable Secretary, has no bearing upon or connexion with the rights 
of our people whatever. It has reference alone to claims of persons 
formerly members of our nation, but who had dissolved their tribal 
connexion and become citizens of the States — principally of Missis- 
sippi. Those of our people who were entitled to reservations, of which 
they were deprived through the palpable neglect of the government 
agent to register their names, or by the failure of the government to 
fulfil its pledge of preventing white persons from going into the coun- 
try and driving off the reservees, had no provisions made for them 
whatever. They were not represented in the applications made to 
the Executive and Congress for reparation for lost rights to reserva- 
tions. They were excluded; their claims, we have the right to infer, 
being left for adjustment in the settlement to be made with the Choc- 
taw nation and people under the treaty. The said action of Congress 
and the Executive had reference to the claims of a particular class of 
individuals, not members of our nation; and the honorable Secretary's 
argument, therefore, has no proper application to or bearing upon 
rights of our people not yet "provided for and arranged." The hon- 
orable Secretary's letter contains the following paragraph, which has 
not a little surprised us: 

' ' If the annuities have not been paid according to treaty stipula- 
tions, let Congress, or one of the houses, make a call upon the Indian 
Office and Second Auditor for the necessary statements and rei)orts." 

Now, whose duty is it to see that annuities are duly paid, and other 
treaty stipulations fulfilled — Congress or the Executive? The latter, 
we judge, beyond all question. It is the special duty of the Execu- 
tive to see that the stipulations of treaties are faithfully carried out; 
and, if authority or m(3ney for that object be necessary, it is incum- 
bent on it, and not a poor Indian tribe, to make application to Con- 
gress therefor, and such has been the invariable practice under all 
just administrations of this government. The Indian department has 



46 

publicly taken the position, and caused the Indian tribes to be in- 
formed, that they must not em|)loy attorneys to attend to their claims 
against the government; that they must submit them to the depart- 
ment through their agents, and they will be carefully inquired into 
and justice done them. We would respectfully inquire how far it is 
consistent with the position and promises of the department in this 
particular to refer us to Congress for an investigation of our claims 
and rights — which seems to be the intention of the honorable Secre- 
tary. If such be the intention, we are too poor to send delegations 
here year after year to engage, unaided by those whose duty we think 
it is to secure justice for us, in the hopeless task of endeavoring to im- 
press upon so large and inaccessible a body as Congress a sense of our 
injuries and rights. We shall have no other alternative than to 
throw ourselves upon our "reserved rights," and adopt such a course 
as will satisfy this great government that its best and wisest policy 
will be to deal liberally with us and to do us full and ample justice. 
It will be a new position for the Choctaws, who have always quietly 
and peacefully yielded to the policy and requirements of the govern- 
ment; but it is one they are prepared to assume. In the first place, 
we sliall insist that the efforts, which have for some time been making, 
to effect a political separation between the Chickasaws and us, shall 
go no further. We will plant ourselves upon the treaty establishing 
our present relations, and listen to no further propositions on the 
subject. The government is a party to that treaty, and must stand 
as guarantor of its integrity. 

If, in consequence of the encouragement given by the authorities of 
the United States to the Chickasaws, the result should be a civil war, 
the consequences be on the government. As we have said in a for- 
mer communication, let it first do us justice before it again approaches 
us to ask us to do what it considers right and just towards another 
people, to whom we have done, and are doing, no injustice 

In the next place, we can no longer consent to be the almoners of 
the government for all the small and poor tribes in our neighborhood, 
or who may wish to come into our country. We shall therefore have 
to demand the immediate removal of the several bands of Texas and 
other Indians who have settled within our limits ; and if this demand 
be not complied with, we will remove them ourselves, using force if 
necessary. The government must look to the consequences, whatever 
they may be. 

Our country extends west to the headwaters of the Canadian, about 
the 103d degree of west longitude, and we are prepared to maintain our 
rights to a boundary that far west, by facts and evidence which can- 
not be disputed. In the compromise with Texas in 1850, that por- 
tion of our country west of the 100th degree of west longitude was 
assigned to that State, in direct and palpable violation of our rights. 
We must demand to be re-possessed of this portion of our country; 
and if this is not done, our people will take possession of it, and leave 
the government to settle with Texas and the Indians upon it for such 
damages as they may claim. 

The time is now at hand when it will be necessary to seek accom- 
modation among the large southwestern tribes for many of the Indi- 



47 

ans of Texas and others, who cannot he provided with suitahle homes 
elsewhere. Even the Kansas and Nehraska Indians cannot remain 
long where they are. They cannot be removed farther west, for there 
is no country in that direction in which they can he sustained. They 
will soon he driven out by the Avhite population, as we have all been 
from the States. There will be no place left for them but among the 
southern tribes. If the Choctaws refuse accommodation for these In- 
dians, it is not likely it can be had from the other tribes. 

We wish it to be distinctly understood that we do not make these 
statements in the way of threats, but only to show to the government 
what may be the consequences of a continued refusal on its part to do us 
justice. We understand our position perfectly, and we foresee and 
know that the government will yet have to rely upon us to enable it to 
surmount serious difficulties connected with the accommodation of 
other tribes and bands of Indians. We wish it simply to understand 
that while laboring under a sense of injustice and injury, we will not 
be dis])osed to make any further concessions. 

Finall)^, sir, the very unwelcome and painful question has arisen 
in our minds, whether the fact ©f our being a southern and a slave- 
holding people has anything to do with the apparent indisposition to 
act liberally and justly towards us ; whether under a northern ad- 
ministration of Indian aifairs we are to fail in our eiForts to obtain 
justice for our people. We are beginning to feel that there is, some 
■ how, a difference in the present disposition and policy, of the govern- 
ment towards the tribes inhabiting different latitudes; that were we 
a northern tribe, we would experience less difficulty, and discourage- 
ment than we have done. 

We know that a treaty has been made with the Menomonees, re- 
lieving them, in part, from the operation of a former treaty, and 
making provision for a claim asserted by them on account of inad- 
equacy of consideration allowed for the cession of their lands made by 
that treaty. A treaty has also been made with the Winnebagoes, to 
remedy injustice done to them by a former treaty, in regard to the 
country assigned to them ; and not only this — an investigation has 
been made, by the executive department of the government, into the 
manner in which the pecuniary and other obligations towards these 
Indians have been fulfilled from the year 1830. This investigation 
resulted in finding large balances due to them, some of which have 
heretofore been appropriated and paid, while a final balance of some 
forty-odd thousand dollars has been estimated for at the present ses- 
*sion of Congress, and is embraced in the Indian appropriation bill. 
We see, too, that an appro})riation has been asked to defray the ex- 
penses of a. new treaty with the Michigan Indians, to revise their af- 
fairs, and place them in a more favorable situation. As to tlie Kan- 
sas and Nebraska Indians, we understand that the most liberal ar- 
rangements have been made with them ; and that in the treaties which 
have been negotiated with them, provision has been made for claims 
under former treaties, without regard to "lapse of time." The con- 
trast in our own case, and that of our neighbors, the Creeks, has very 



4« 

painfully impressed us. We trust tliat we may yet realize that the 
impression has been without any real foundation. 

With respectful consideration, your most obedient servants, 

P. P. PITCHLYNN. 
SAMUEL GAKLAND. 
DICKSON W. LEWIS. 
Hon. C. E. Mix, 

ActiJig Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

P. S. — We respectfully request that this communication, or a copy 
of it, be laid before the honorable Secretary of the Interior for his con- 
sideration. 

P. P. PITCHLYNN. 

SAMUEL GARLAND. 

DICKSON W. LEWIS. 



Department of the Interior, • 

Washington, Stptember 25, 1854. 

Sir: In consequence of the uninterrupted friendship of the Choctaw 
nation of Indians towards the government and people of the United 
States, the interesting advances they have made in civilization, and 
other considerations equally calculated to incline the government to a 
liberal and generous pohcy towards them, I have duly and attentively 
considered their letter to you of the 11th of July last, and, in connexion 
with it, reconsidered all the questions involved in their present appli- 
cation, but without being able to arrive at any different conclusion. 

The Choctaw delegation assert, in general terms, a want of compli- 
ance on the part of the United States with many of the stipulations con- 
tained in the various treaties which have from time to time been nego- 
tiated with them; and particularly that the government of the United 
States has not fairly interpreted the nature and purposes of the cession 
of their lands to the United States as made by the treaty of 1830, and 
that the true intent and meaning of that treaty was to secure to them 
the proceeds of the sales of those lands alter the several amounts se- 
cyred to them thereby had been paid. 

I am constrained to adhere to the opinion heretofore expressed, that, 
by the terms of the treaty, the Choctaws made an unquahfied and un- 
conditional cession of their lands to the United States, except only in so 
far as it required that the proceeds of the sales of the lands should re- 
main a fund pledged lor the payment of the several amounts therein 
secured to them. If this be not the true interpretation of the treaty, 
where was the necessity, and what was the object of the Indians in re- 
taining, as it were, a lien upon the ceded lands? And supposing, for 
argument's sake, their claim to be tenable, how is it possible at this 
time (no precautions having heretofore been taken with that view) to 
ascert;iin the cost to the United States of surveying and selling their 
lands, &c., and adjusting an account between the United States and 
the Choctaw nation? I understood that with the regular force in the 
Land, Indian, and Second Auditor's oflBces, the examination which it 



49 

would be necessary to make, to act intelligently upon the general com- 
plaint of the Choctaw delegation of a non-compliance with their treaty 
stipulations, would require many months, and not then without extra 
clerical force. Under such circumstances I did not feel warranted in 
diverting the force of those officers from their current labors, unless 
some specific instance should be cited wherein the United States 
have failed to comply with their engagements ; and 1 repeat, that the 
nature of the present demands or wishes of the Choctaws is more 
properly a subject for congressional action, particularly as, in view of 
the action of the government for a long series of years, and occasionally 
of Congress itself, the legal presumption is, that the stipulations of the 
treaty have been complied with as well by the United States as by the 
Indians. 

Should Congress entertain the subject, and call upon the department 
for information to enable it to ascertain and determine the legal or 
equitable rights of the Indians, that very call would, under the act of 
1842, authorize the employment of the requisite extra clerical force to 
comply with it, and in such case it would be the pleasure as well as 
the duty of the department to furnish the fullest information on the 
subject. 

In thus declining to accede to the requests of the Choctaw delegates, 
I wish them to feel assured of the kind feelings of the department to- 
wards their nation, and likewise of its sincere desire to act as liberally 
with them as the treaties and laws which it is bound to execute will 
justly warrant. 

Their letter of the llthof July last contains some expressions which, 
as I doubt not they were used without due reflection, I refrain from 
noticing. 

All the papers in the case are herewith returned. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

R. McClelland, Secretary. 

Charles E. Mix, Esq., 

Acting Commissioner of Lidian Affairs. 



B. 

Washington City, D. C, 

December 19, 1854. 

Gentlemen : As requested by you, I have carefully examined the 
views presented by Mr. Cooper, agent to the Choctaw Indians, in re- 
gard to the provisions of the treaty of September, 1830. As that 
treaty was made by me for, and on behalf of the United States, you 
solicit my opinion as to the views presented by Mr. Cooper, and to 
which, with propriety, I can interpose no objection. 

I am free to confess that, all the circumstances considered, the 
views of Mr. Cooper derive great force, at least to the extent of giv- 
ing to the treaty an equitable consideration. A brief narrative of 
matters, as they then existed, will afford some light on the subject. 

4 



50 

Seemingly a conflict of authority was manifesting itself. The States 
had extended their laws, and the Indians being embittered at the 
idea, some open hostile conflict was feared. The States' rights por- 
tion of the country insisted that the duty of the general government 
was non-interference with the States in the exercise of legislation 
within their limits ; while a larger portion of the country held, 
that protection of Indian rights, and of their possession to the soil, 
were paramount to any authority over them which a State could ex- 
ercise. The preamble to the treaty assumed this principle — that the 
Executive could not protect them against State legislation, which on 
ratification, although in no wise material to the treaty, was stricken 
out by a vote of the Senate. So situated and embarrassed, General 
Jackson sent General Coflee and myself to conclude a treaty, with no 
instructions given to us except one — "/ai7 not to make a treaty." If 
insisted upon, I would have given to the Choctaw people the entire 
net proceeds of the sale of their country, as I did a short time subse- 
quently to the Chickasaws, in 1832. 

Dissensions had existed among the chiefs, approaching to appre- 
hended rupture. When the treaty came to be signed, dissatisfaction 
was manifested. The Indians commenced to drink, and even hostility 
was threatened to such an extent that the commissioners, about sun- 
set of the same evening, left the encampment. 

At the concluding interview in council, when for the second and 
last time we had met for them to conclude or refuse the treaty, per- 
ceiving the decided opposition of the Indians, I addressed them (many 
knew our language) and said, "the United States neither need nor 
want your lands for any purpose of profit, for already they have 
lands enough and to spare; the only object is, to have jurisdiction 
over your country and save you from the encroachments of the whites, 
which cannot be prevented. ' ' I said, moreover^ that " if a treaty were 
not made, the President would withdraw the agent and leave them 
under the State laws." These declarations had great influence ; and 
thereupon they hastily came forward and signed the treaty. Thus a 
great gain Avas effected. The Choctaws were disposed of. Shortly 
after, the Chickasaws, following the example, yielded up their lands. 
The Cherokees, in 1835, did the same thing ; and thus in five years 
the perplexing question of Indian rights was disposed of, and quietude 
restored, to the benefit of all, or at least the four States, viz : Tennes- 
see, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

The idea that the United States sought any pecuniary profit from 
their lands, or desired anything beyond a mere jurisdiction over the 
country, was emphatically disclaimed in the address I made to them. 
Added to this was a stipulation, that the lands should remain a 
trust for the fulfilment of the engagements of the treaty. These two 
circumstances might well have induced the Indians to believe, as they 
now state, that the net proceeds of the sale of their country was to 
inure to them. 

There certainly is strong equity on their side. 

1st. Many of the reservations secured by the treaty were lost, 
which swelled, to the United States, the quantity of land ceded by the 
treaty. 

2d. The consideration of purchase was small ; for while the Chero- 



61 

kees received five millions, and the Cliickasaws tlie entire net pro- 
ceeds of sales, the Choctaws received for a larger and better country 
not exceeding half a million of dollars. 

If the design be to appeal to Congress, being thereto requested, 1 
will, with pleasure, appear before the committee for the purpose ot 
any further examination that may be desired. 
Very respectfully, &c., 

^ JOHN H. EATON. 

Messrs. P. P. Pitchlynn, and others, 

Choctaw Delegates. 



. c. 

Washington City, D. C, 

December 21, 1854. 

Gentlemen: In answer to your letter of the 17th instant I have 
to state, that for several years before the treaty of Dancing Rabbit 
creek I had been a licensed trader among the Choctaw Indians. As 
such, I had extensive dealings with them, and was well acquainted 
with the leading men, and with the great body of the people. There 
was a strong, and I believe universal feeling, in opposition to the sale 
of any portion of their remaining country in Mississippi. I was pre- 
sent during the negotiation and signing of the treaty, and when the 
proposition to sell their country was submitted by the commissioners, 
it met with no favor whatever. The Indians were assembled in large 
numbers, and the promises made to them were of the most tempting 
character ; but no one seemed to be in the least moved from what was 
obviously the fixed determination of all, not to sell. The commis- 
sioners were fully apprized of the unwillingness of the_ Indians to 
give up their country, and therefore acted on the policy of alternately 
exciting to the utmost their hopes and fears. Accordingly, the open- 
ing speech of General Eaton, which was mainly addressed to then- 
hopes, was full of flattering assurances and promised blessings. 
Among other things of like character, he told them that their Great 
Father, General Jackson, by whose side many of them had fought, 
cherished a particular regard for his Choctaw children ; that feeling 
a deep interest in their welfare, he had sent him, the Secretary ot 
War, to make arrangements with them, whereby the evils with which 
they were threatened might be averted, and their happiness and pros- 
perity as a people secured and promoted ; that to this end it ^f ^.'^^" 
cessary for them to cede their country in Mississippi to the United 
States, and remove to the country which they owned west of Arkan- 
sas ; that in asking them to do this, there was no design to take any 
advantage of them ; that the government did not wanttlie lands lor 
the purpose of speculation or gain; that the right of jurisdiction over 
the country was all the government desired ; and that all the pecu- 
niary benefits resulting from the cession would inure to them. These 
and similar protestations and promises were reiterated m various forms 
of expression— all intended to impress the Indians with the beliet that 



52 

they would get the fnll value of their lands, and that the treaty would 
be in every respect eminently beneficial to them. The idea that the 
government desired nothing but the right of jurisdiction, and that all 
else was to be for the benefit of the Indians, was repeatedly presented, 
and with special emphasis. At the conclusion of this address, the 
treaty, or the outlines thereof, which had been previously drawn up 
by the commissioners, was read and interpreted to the Indians ; but 
although they listened respectfully and attentively to General Eaton's 
speech, they paid no attention to the reading of the paper, during 
which there was a general conversational pow-wow going on among 
them. Their inattention to the reading was doubtless owing to the 
fact, that at that time they had no idea of making a treaty, and con- 
sequently felt no interest in what the paper contained. The council 
then adjourned until the next day; and, when they re-assembled, the 
Indians announced to the commissioners that they had considered 
what had been said to them, and that it was their unanimous and 
fixed determination not to sell their country. Thereupon General 
Eaton rose and delivered a very eloquent harangue, the object of which 
was to alarm the fears of the Indians, and in this he succeeded com- 
pletely. He portrayed at length, and with startling efi'ect, the evils 
that would speedily befal them if they did not yield to the wishes of 
the government. He told them that they would be subjected to the 
operation of the State laws, by which they would be compelled to 
muster, pay taxes, and work on roads; that their country would be 
overrun by the white men, who would come among them like flocks 
of black-birds and swarms of locusts; that they and their children 
would become paupers and beggars ; that they would be broken up 
and utterly destroyed as a nation ; that the United States could not 
protect them where they were ; that no more commissioners would be 
sent to treat with them ; that this was the last opportunity they would 
ever have of escaping from the ruin with which they were threatened; 
that it was impossible for them to remain in Mississippi and yet con- 
tinue to hold their country west ; that it would be taken from them 
and given to other tribes who wanted it ; that they would soon have 
no country and no home ; that their agent also should be forthwith 
dismissed, and they abandoned to their fate; and, hereafter, said he, 
when your troubles come upon you, and your distress is great, you 
will then be heard appealing to the President for succor and relief; 
but he will turn a deaf ear to your lamentations, and laugh at your 
calamities. 

In conclusion, he placed the treaty on a table before him, and urged 
them to come forward at once and sign it. The speech produced a 
general panic among them, and in the midst of great confusion and 
excitement, the treaty was immediately signed without being again 
read or understood by the Indians. The supplement was afterwards 
signed under the same state of feeling. The popular excitement ran 
so high, that the chiefs and headmen who signed the treaty became 
alarmed and hastily left the ground; and the commissioners, also ap- 
prehensive of serious consequences, did the same. The Indians had 
requested that several copies of the treaty should be left with them ; 
and this the commissioners promised to have done, but their depart- 



53 

ure was so sudden that there was no time for the copies to be made. 
After the lapse of several weeks, a few copies were sent to some of the 
chiefs ; and then for the first time the Indians were apprized of the 
contents of their treaty, at which tliey expressed the utmost astonish- 
ment and indignation, and immediately set about getting up public 
meetings for the purpose of protesting against its ratification by the 
Senate ; but the United States agent actively inter j)osed, and by in- 
timidation prevented the meetings from being held. There can be no 
doubt that but for his interference the nation, with one voice, would 
have protested against the ratification of the treaty. 

Such is a brief statement of the leading facts and circumstances 
connected with the making of the treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek ; 
and in view thereof, I have no hesitation in saying that, although the 
Indians doubtless understood that it contained all the beneficial pro- 
visions that had been held forth to them by the commissioners, it was 
nevertheless signed by them under the controlling influence of fear, 
coercion, and duress. I will add, though not requested by your let- 
ter, that the manner in which the treaty has been enforced by the 
government is equally arbitrary and oppressive towards the Indians. 
It is notorious that some of its most important provisions have never 
been fulfilled, nor can they be at this late day, in consequence of the 
past delinquency of the government. Of all our Indian tribes, the 
Choctaws deserve to be dealt with liberally and magnanimously. 
They liave always been the true and steadfast friends of our people, 
in peace and war, and it would take millions to compensate them for 
the losses, injuries, and sufferings they have endured in consequence 
of submitting to the policy and measures of the government. You 
say in your letter that you seek information from reliable and disin- 
terested sources. For myself I have no connexion with your business 
in any way whatever, and have made the statements contained in this 
communication with entire disinterestedness and impartiality. 

With sincere regard, your friend and obedient servant, 

R. H. GRANT. 

Messrs. P. P. Pitchlynn, and others, 

Choctaw Delegates. 



i 



II 



